Sailor Moon: Shadows of the Eclipse
by Saturnalius
Summary: The world was peaceful after Sailor Moon freed the Galaxy Cauldron from the grip of chaos. The senshi finally believed they could live normal, peaceful lives while they waited for Crystal Tokyo to arrive. The following spring, strange things start happening, and new senshi show up. The senshi must figure out who or what is threatening the present and the future Crystal tokyo.
1. That strange girl who looks like Makoto

Chaos had fallen. The Galaxy Cauldron was safe and pure once again. And Usagi had her wish. She and the other senshi had returned home to continue to live their lives. She could've thrown herself into the cauldron to be reborn, but she couldn't leave her friends, she couldn't abandon Chbiusa, and she couldn't live without Mamoru. The warnings that chaos could return someday had her worried for a moment, but she knew they could handle whatever the galaxy could throw at them.

Usagi and Mamoru were slated to be married soon, though after Usagi finished high school. That task didn't seem so daunting now that Chaos was gone and destroyed. They could all live on as normal teenagers, preparing for the future, for Crystal Tokyo. Though the details were rather vague, they all knew it would happen soon. They also all knew Chibiusa would soon be born. She had returned home after the battle, certain that everything would be fine, that she'd soon join them once again.

The four outer senshi returned home across town, settling in. Haruka and Michiru worked to finish high school, pursuing their dreams. After fighting for so long, they had a chance now to finally focus on themselves and settle down. Setsuna had returned to focusing on her career. Hotaru had returned to school, though miserably as she no longer had Chibiusa there by her side.

The following spring...

She was late. Very late. How she managed to actually get into high school was a mystery to her parents. Her mother had unceremoniously tossed her from bed this morning only to have her go back to sleep. And then she realized how late she was when Artemis sat on her face, prodding her to get out of bed and take responsibility.

Toast in hand, Minako tied the red ribbon in her hair as she dashed off to school. Fortunately the high school wasn't too far from home, though it was farther than her middle school. She quickly unchained her bike then zipped off to school, attempting to eat her breakfast as she biked furiously down the street.

Across town, another dumb blond had forgotten to wake up at an appropriate time. How she got into high school was also a mystery. She lived closer than Minako did and Usagi had no trouble running quickly to school.

Minako nearly ran over Usagi with her bike as the two barely missed one another at the school's gate. Minako tightly gripped the brakes on her bike, the sudden stop flipping her over the handlebars onto a poor bystander. She managed to untangle herself from it by prying off a shoe and slipping her foot through the metal spokes. Pushing herself up she noticed the girl had long brown hair pulled back into a ponytail.

"I'm so sorry, Makoto!" Minako apologized. "Silly me." In truth, it wasn't so silly, just another testament to how clumsy she really was. She wasn't graceful like the other senshi. Beautiful, just not graceful, and she tended to get herself beaten up or dirty, like today where she'd lost a shoe and ripped her skirt.

"Makoto?" the girl blinked in surprise. "My name's Juri. And it's alright. Don't worry about it."

Minako stared for a moment. The girl was a splitting resemblance to Makoto, down to even how she pulled her hair back with bobbles. Yet the bobbles were red, and her eyes were brown. Even Usagi stared for a moment, which only seemed to make Juri more uneasy.

"Sorry, sorry!" Usagi apologized, offering Juri a hand to help her up. Juri rose to her feet and stared for a moment. It wasn't the act of kindness that had her staring. She felt something, as if Usagi was emanating some sort of power that felt like hope and light. It was if she could see the moon reflecting in her large blue eyes.

Usagi stared for a moment too. Juri had some sort of power, of warmth, strength, and ambition. For a moment, she could see the power of a strong sun with the desire to protect those dear. Just who was this girl?

The first bell interrupted their thoughts. Juri quickly let go of Usagi's hand, gathered her things, and ran off, shouting "It's nice to meet you both!".

Minako turned to run in as well but noticed Usagi hadn't quite moved yet. She was still staring where Juri once stood. "Usagi?"

"That girl," Usagi mumbled. "There's something about her."

Minako stopped and stared, shocked and almost horrified. "An enemy?" The thought of an enemy returning after all they'd worked for. Did that battle with Chaos mean nothing? Minako wasn't even sure if they had the power to transform anymore. She hadn't really tried.

Usagi shook her head. "No, something else." But there was something more. "I'd like to get to know her better. I'm sure we'll be great friends."

...

"Class, please say hello to Henna Juri-san," Yamamoto-sensei introduced a brunette who offered a polite bow to the class. "She transferred in from Yokohama today. Take the open seat next to Kino-san."

"Henna?" someone in the class echoed. "What a weird name."

Juri frowned sharply at the student who'd teased about her name as she took her seat next to Makoto. The two looked nearly identical sitting next to one another, save the minor details.

"Kino has a twin," someone else commented. "How weird."

Minako nudged Usagi. "It's that girl from earlier."

Usagi nodded. She still had an odd feeling about Juri, ever since she'd taken the girl's hand to help her up. She had some sort of power to her, but Usagi couldn't put a finger on it. She wasn't the type to read that sort of thing. Even so, she wanted to befriend this girl. She had just transferred here and probably didn't have any friends.

"Henna Juri," Ami echoed, a her finger on her chin. "Where have I heard that name before?"

Usagi's thoughts were interrupted. "Wait, you know that girl?"

"Henna Juri," Umino suddenly chimed in, popping up beside Ami. He pushed his glasses up his nose and offered a sports magazine open to a page. It featured Juri wearing a traditional hakama and haori decorated with flames and flowers, pulling back a bow. "She's a champion competitive archer. Number one in all of Kanto. Rumor has it she's also really good at volleyball, too."

"Looks like you might have a new teammate, Minako-chan," Naru added.

...

Across town at the Hikawa Shrine, Rei knelt before the sacred fire. She pressed her fingers together and closed her eyes in prayer. She still could remember the final battle against Chaos clearly still, but now they would finally know peace. Sailor Moon had finally defeated Chaos so the senshi could finally rest. At least for awhile. Soon Usagi would become Neo Queen Serenity, just in a few short years, but until then, they could at least live normal lives.

Her thoughts were quickly interrupted as the fire roared, the heat of the flame causing her to push back away from it. Images appeared within the flames. First appeared a blond woman wearing a gray jacket. The details were fuzzy, but Rei could immediately tell she was bad news.

The blond was fighting a sailor senshi, one which Rei didn't recognize. She looked quite a bit like Makoto wearing red, and she was surrounded by a strong fire. There were others there too. Purple diamonds. Water. Lightning. Blue hearts. Ice.

The image of the girls disappeared and was replaced by a bright full moon. The moon cracked then quickly faded as it was eclipsed, and the world was thrown into darkness.


	2. I'm not Sailor Mars, Really

Rei sat uncomfortably on her feet at the table. She had informed the others of her vision, the premonition of the elements fighting the villain and of the broken moon. It didn't sit any better with them as it did with her.

"It's like Guardian Cosmos had said," Usagi finally broke the silence. "Chaos could return; I just didn't expect it so soon." She was going to become Neo Queen Serenity soon. She was going to be Mamoru's wife soon. But for now, she was going to finish high school like a normal girl. At least that was the plan.

"It could have something to do with that Henna Juri girl that showed up today," Minako nodded sagely. "You said you got a weird feeling from her."

"Henna?" Rei echoed. "What a weird name."

"What's weirder is how much she looks like me," Makoto chimed in.

"It is possible that the vision Rei saw was somehow us with upgraded powers," Ami pointed out, returning the subject back to Rei's vision.

It was a thought that hadn't crossed anyone else's mind yet, but now that it had, the others fell silent, considering the idea. It made sense for everything except the purple diamonds. That was the one power that wasn't related to any known senshi. There had to be something more to this vision, something they hadn't yet considered.

...

"Alright, let's play some volleyball!" Juri grinned nearly ear to ear as she spun the volley ball on her finger.

P.E. class was in the middle of the school day. It was warm and a bit muggy in the gym, but the girls had all piled into the room anyway for a friendly game of volleyball. For Minako, however, it wasn't so friendly. This was competition. This was war. She burned up inside, giving Juri a strong stare. If she was even half as good as Umino made her out to be, then she was a serious threat to Minako.

Minako headed up one team while Juri headed up the other. The class was split in half for teams, leaving Makoto and Ami on Juri's blue team and Usagi and Naru on Minako's red team.

Blue team had the ball first, and Juri took the first serve. She tossed the ball up delicately into the air for an overhand serve, leaving Minako snickering at her technique.

_This'll be a slice of pie_, Minako mused to herself, though her mind quickly changed as Juri slammed the ball across the net into red team's court, scoring a point for blue. _That was fast_, Minako stared for a moment before shaking her head. _Concentrate!_ "Alright, let's win this!" she smirked.

The match continued on with a game of scoring back and forth. It had evolved from a team game to a full-on competition between Minako and Juri. Both were relentlessly attempting to score while hindering the other player's ability to score at the same time. Neither was willing to give up or give in.

As Minako was about to spike the ball, the nearby wall in the gym suddenly collapsed; the impact threw many of the students back several feet. The lights shot out, leaving many swinging by a few cables as the roof cracked from the impact. The only light came from the bright sunlight outside, pouring in through the hole in the wall.

The figure first appeared as a shadow, then strode in to show someone greatly resembling the woman in Rei's premonition. Tall, blond, blue eyes. She wore a double-breasted military-like uniform with red piping and black gems. She twirled her hair as she stood with her weight to one side, smacking gum. "Like, get them, Golem. I want this place, like, flattened until we find that galactic crystal."

The golem monster formed from the pile of rubble under her feet, growing into a huge creature which then smashed a hand through the gymnasium floor. The students scattered, heading for the doorway on the far side, but it was quickly blocked off when a piece of the ceiling fell in front of the door.

"Stop right there!" Her voice echoed against the damaged room.

"Look! It's Sailor Moon!" Umino pointed out excitedly. Both the girls and the boys (who had been playing on the opposite side of the gym) had huddled together near the doorway as far away as possible from the giant rock monster. The heroine was a welcomed sight, as were her friends. Mercury stood by Moon while Jupiter and Venus had taken a stance between the golem and their classmates.

"I don't know what this galactic crystal is, but you're not getting it!" Sailor Moon announced. She'd never heard of anything called a Galactic Crystal. Could it be a counterpart to her silver crystal or perhaps a new form of star seeds? "The pretty suited sailor soldiers are on the scene!"

No matter, she'd stop them. Moon held her hand out to summon the Eternal Tiare only to find it wasn't heeding her call. Then she remembered. It had shattered when she was fighting the evil versions of her own friends. She tried calling past weapons that hadn't broken but nothing would come.

"What's wrong, Sailor Moon?" Mercury asked, noticing the horror starting to grow on her friend's face.

"..." What was wrong? Why couldn't she just think up a past item and have it come to her? She had to somehow protect her friends.

Mercury paused. She'd have to help make up for the loss in strength and somehow signal to the other two that they had fight in her place. She glanced at Jupiter and Venus. The two weren't very bright but they would definitely jump into the fight if the situation called for it. They'd all fought side by side for two years now. They would understand without words.

Mercury immediately summoned her Mercury Harp to perform the attack when a fiery arrow sailed through the air, nailing the golem straight between the eyes.

"Mars?" Moon stammered in surprise. "When did she-"

"I'm the one you're after." The voice was different. It wasn't Mars at all. It wasn't someone any of the senshi recognized. On the bleachers opposite of Moon and Mercury stood a new senshi. A brunette, her hair pulled back into a ponytail with two red bobbles. Her outfit resembled Sailor Moon's super form, with a red collar, gold bows, spiked sleeves, and a layered skirt. Her boots were white, resembling that of the eternal senshi. She held a large bow which curled at both ends. "I am a holder of a galactic crystal, the Solar Eclipse, Sailor Sun!"


	3. Try not to burn the place down

It was unnerving, really. Only days before she'd moved to Tokyo had Sun's powers surfaced when her hometown was attacked. They had been in search of galactic crystals, star seeds of the deep space guardians. At least that's what her cat told her. Phefe had lived by her side for years, longer than any regular cat would, and suddenly one night she talked and changed an ordinary girl's life forever.

And here was that previously ordinary girl, a simply demonstration archer, standing among the silver moon senshi. They were goddesses in her eyes. Beautiful guardians, probably about her age, defending the world against unnatural evil. She was a novice compared to them. She was nervous, gripping her bow to keep from shaking too much.

"Solar Eclipse?" Venus echoed.

"Galactic crystal?" Mercury chimed in.

"Sailor _SUN?!_" Sailor Moon exclaimed in surprise. There were more allies out in the galaxy? More people to help fight this new threat?

Sun bit her lower lip. She had to trust this fire magic would show up and not burn down the gymnasium. She pulled the bow tight, an arrow manifested between her fingers. The arrow lit on fire, as did the string of the bow, but the fire didn't burn her. It was her power, and it was working.

Steadying her aim, Sun released the arrow, commanding it, "Solar Flare!" The arrow stayed true to its path, though she wasn't aiming for the golem this time, she was aiming for the intruder. The fire on the arrow grew more as it sailed through the air. At the last moment, however, the golem moved, lurching backwards, defending its master.

"That was, like, way too close, you idiot golem!" the blond intruder fussed, continuing to twirl her hair. "I so don't want to get my hands all grodie and stuff. Kill them all and like come back with the crystal or don't come back at all." With such harsh words, she stepped back into a flurry of black rose petals and disappeared.

Sun frowned nervously. That was the only move she knew, and it failed. She wanted to help them, but she didn't know how. It was her second time on the battlefield.

"What are we waiting for?" Venus spoke up suddenly. "Let's help her out!"

"You don't have to tell me twice," Jupiter smirked, dashing forward. Using some of the rubble as a spring board, she jumped into the air, pulling her legs underneath her and her hands above. "Jupiter Oak Evolution!" Oak leaves surrounded her then shot out at the golem, wedging themselves between the rocks which made up the creature.

"My analysis says we need to break the rocks apart!" Mercury shouted. "It'll break the spell on them." Tucking her mini-computer away, she leapt off the bleachers, summoning the Mercury Harp to her hands once again. "Mercury Aqua Rhapsody~!" she commanded, pulling the strings of the harp. Beautiful music filled the room as strands of water shot out from the harp, attacking the golem and loosening the rocks.

"Alright, my turn!" Venus said confidently, summoning her chain to her hands. She paused for a second, considering how this probably would go. She'd smack the golem with the chain, and the chain would come back and hit her in the face. Very graceful. Very effective. Very much not a good plan.

She released the chain from her hands, letting it fade away, then pushed her arms out straight in front of her. "Rolling Heart Vibration!" She hadn't used the attack for ages, but she still could recall its power. Hearts formed between her arms and rolled out, attacking the golem, breaking it apart.

"Yes! One more attack!" Ami looked up to see Sailor Moon hadn't summoned a weapon. She hadn't even moved. Then it hit her. When the team had been taken over by Galaxia, they broke it. Sailor Moon was without a means to properly fight.

Across the room, even Sun could tell something was wrong. She didn't know anything about their recent battle or whatever struggles they had endured. Sun felt so weak compared to their combined power, but she could do her part to help.

She pulled the bow tight once again, but she knew a fire-based attack wouldn't work. She didn't know much about magic, but she knew plenty about archery. Concentrating, she summoned several arrows to her hand, then pointed the bow at the ceiling, releasing them. "Rain of arrows~" she completely made up the name, though truly it didn't need one. It wasn't really a Sun power. It was simply demonstration archery put to work.

Her aim was once again true. The arrows rained down from the ceiling, spearing the golem and breaking apart the stones. Without magic to bring it to life, the rocks fell apart, the golem turning into the rubble it once was.

...

The blond villainess frowned as she watched the scene from a distance. A combination of Lunar and Eclipse senshi just couldn't happen. It would mean the end of their master's brilliant plan for revenge. The silver moon and golden sun had to fall, and she'd put her life on the line to do it. She couldn't fail the queen.

She bit her lip in frustration.

"You're gonna bite a hole through your lip if you keep doing that, sister." A boy, about the same age as the girl, appeared. His hair was short and blond, his eyes a blue matching hers. His uniform was a similar gray, though the piping was blue instead of red.

"Like, shove it, Doxite," Dixite frowned, moping a bit. She knew there were other galactic senshi roaming around. There were reports of it everywhere, but where they were was the mystery. The Shadow Galaxy hadn't quite found a good way to track them. They appeared without warning, foiled the Galaxy's plans, then disappeared without a trace. Extracting their galactic crystals would surely stop them, or so the master tactician Pifite had said. Trouble was extracting that crystal before the other senshi interfered.

"Two more Eclipse have surfaced in the area," Doxite informed her. "Pifite-sama seems to think they're congregating here for some reason. This school might be some sorta important location to them."

Unknown to them, this point was special to the lunar senshi. This location was where Crystal Tokyo would have its beginning.

"Two more," the girl scoffed. "Looks like we'll have to go with, like, plan B and stuff."


	4. Makoto brought a buffet for lunch

There was a lot to take in just from the past two days. Usagi buried her emotions inside as she made her way to school, plastering on her usual smile. She didn't want anyone to worry about her. She was just fine. That sudden loss of powers yesterday was just a fluke. Everything would be fine, right?

She felt a tug on her sleeve, more of a sudden yank that stopped her in her tracks. Turning, she saw that Minako had grabbed her sleeve, a serious expression drawn across her face.

"Usagi," Minako frowned. "You can hide it all you want, but I can see you're upset. You've been dragging your feet since the gym incident." After the attack on the gym, all the students had been sent home. School was canceled yesterday, giving everyone a day to recover before returning today.

"I'm fine," Usagi lied.

"Oh don't give me that," Minako frowned harder. "Look." She took her friend by the shoulders, giving her an emphatic, somewhat reassuring pat. "No matter what happens, we're here for you. It's our duty to protect you, but also something we all _want_ to do. We wouldn't let anything happen to you."

"I'm glad to have a friend like you, Minako-chan," Usagi smiled. "And that Sailor Sun. I hope we'll be friends with her, too."

...

The two blonds nestled down into their seats in the classroom, surprisingly not late for home room. The class was buzzing with gossip like usual in the morning. The minutes ticked by and the teacher hadn't shown up. Five minutes past the bell, the classroom door slides open. A stranger with long blond wavy hair pulled half back into a red clip enters. She smacked her gum a few times, twirling her hair mindlessly with one hand while carrying books with another.

"I'm like Fujitou Fujita," she announced, dropping the books on the front podium with aloud slam. "I'm you're new substitute for the time being and stuff." She turned to write "藤藤藤田" on the blackboard. The name seemed fishy, like it was completely made up.

Juri frowned, chewing on her pencil. "And people think my name is strange. She must really like wisteria."

"Quiet, quiet!" Fujitou-sensei exclaimed, slamming her hand on the board emphatically. Turning back around, she scribbled a long algebraic alphanumeric formula on the board. It was lengthy, causing several students to groan at it. Fujitou-sensei continued to explain how to solve the formula.

Juri leaned across the aisle, poking Ami in the shoulder. "Please tell me she just explained that wrong, or do I just not get this stuff?"

Ami shook her head. "It _is_ wrong," Ami whispered back.

Juri leaned back, returning to chew on her pencil as she watched Fujitou-sensei scribble on the board mindlessly. This teacher was becoming more and more suspicious. First the fake name and now the false information. Was she just a poor stand-in or could she possibly be someone more malicious?

...

Class finally came to a end and the students dragged themselves outside. Lunch time had finally come. It was a beautiful spring day, the cherry blossoms just beginning to bloom.

"That new teacher, I'm very suspicious of her," Ami announced as soon as she and the other civilian senshi had left the building. "Her information was completely incorrect. She's going to cause people to do poorly on their spring exams."

Usagi and Minako groaned in unison. Spring exams were next week. No one really wanted to think of those yet except Ami who constantly thought of exams and studying.

"Hey wait, isn't that Juri-chan?" Usagi interrupted, pointing to a nearby tree. Juri sat alone, eating lunch out of a small bento while reading a book. "She's new right? Let's have lunch with her!" Before anyone could object, Usagi darted off to chat with Juri. The others shrugged and followed.

Juri looked up from her book. "You want to have lunch with me?"

Usagi nodded, soon joined by the others as they quickly approached. "We all do! You shouldn't have to eat alone. And besides, Mako-chan brought a buffet! Her food is really good. You should try some!"

Everyone took a seat near Juri and Makoto began to open her multiple bento with a wide variety of food. Ami noted the book Juri had been reading. It was a study guide for spring exams. "You should come with us tonight. We have a study group to help with exams."

"Really?" Juri seemed to light up. "I'd really like that."

…

**Author's notes**

Please forgive the gross delay! There was a terrible bug in my where I keep all my writing, and I lost all the work I'd done for SMSE. The dev team was kind enough to recover the majority of my writing over the past two weeks! SMSE will now resume on a regular basis. Thank you for being so patient with me!

In Japan, the students stay in one classroom and the teachers switch rooms for each class, opposite of American schools. The doors also slide.

The new teacher's name is Fujitou 藤藤 Fujita 藤田. Note the excessive use of 藤, a kanji which means wisteria. Also note that Fujita is a _family (last)_ name, not a _given (first)_ name. The name is obviously fake.


	5. A chance meeting at the temple

_Sailor Moon stood in in the spotlight, surrounded by darkness. A gloved hand stretched out to her from the shadows into the light._

_"Sailor Moon!" she shouted, reaching forward. "The light in the darkness!"_

_"Who are you?" Sailor Moon cried out. "What do you mean?" She reached for the gloved hand, but it seemed to only get farther and farther away as she moved towards it. Stretching as far as she could, she touched her fingertips to the disembodied hand's fingertips before the hand seemed to be yanked away, disappearing into the darkness._

_"You're our only hope, Sailor Moon!" The voice shouted, echoing in the darkness as it faded away._

Usagi woke with a start with tears streaming down her cheeks. It wasn't the first time she'd had the dream. It had repeated several times over the last month, occurring more frequently in the past week, but this was the first time she'd woken up crying. It hurt. It felt like she'd lost a dear friend.

Could it be... Was everyone in danger all because of her? Because she couldn't fight? Because she couldn't bring the light to the darkness yet?

She buried her face in her knees miserably.

...

It was Sunday. The spring weather had begun to set in, wetting the city with a light shower. She had arrived late morning, wearing a white dress with plaid piping, carrying the pink umbrella Mamoru had given her. It was such a dreary day and after last night, it felt fitting.

"Is Rei-chan around?" she asked one of the miko selling charms. Usagi had seen the miko a few times. Young, cute, short black hair. Very much Grampa's type.

The miko had seen Usagi enough times to know that she and Rei were friends. "Rei-sama is performing a cleansing ceremony down the hill. She'll be right back."

With the fall of Chaos, Rei had taken the path to becoming a priestess, taking up more duties and responsibilities after school at the shrine. It was a Sunday so she was undoubtedly busy, even after she finished the cleansing ceremony.

"It's alright, I'll call her later." Usagi said suddenly, turning to leave. She didn't want to be a burden, asking Rei to help her stop this repeating dream or at least to understand it. She turned to leave and noticed someone familiar coming up the pathway to the shrine.

"Ah, Usagi-san!" Juri waved happily at her new friend. "Good morning!"

Usagi perked up a bit, hiding her problems inside, as she met her on the pathway. "Juri-chan. What're you doing here?"

"Getting a good luck charm so I can pass the spring exams," Juri replied. "I'll probably need it. What brings you here?"

"The head miko's a good friend of mine, but she's busy today," Usagi replied. "You should come study with us again! We're studying tomorrow at Ami-chan's place."

"I'd really like that," Juri replied with a smile. "Definitely more helpful than a luck charm, though those are still good to have." Luck gods guide her to get more than an average score.

"Usagi?"

The blond flipped around to see Rei had finished with her ceremony. "Ah! Rei-chan!" Usagi had planned on speaking to her about this repeating dream, but now that Juri had arrived, plans changed. "This is Juri-chan from school! She just transferred from Kyoto a few days ago."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Rei," she introduced herself. There was something about this Juri. Rei could sense the fire in her aura. It was strange, something she never truly saw outside of a senshi. There was something about her, something strong, almost familiar as if they'd met before, yet Rei didn't recognize her at all. Perhaps it was because of her striking similarity to Makoto.

But there was something more that struck Rei other than Juri's appearance. Usagi had come to the temple without the other senshi. Something was on her mind, something important. She usually confided in Minako or Luna, but something had brought her here to the temple.

Rei paused for a moment, studying her, wondering what was going on. Perhaps it was related to the fight in the gym the others had detailed. Usagi really hadn't said anything about it when Ami was detailing the events except that they really should try to track down Sailor Sun. But there was more to it. Everyone could feel it.

"I should go," Juri interjected suddenly, feeling like she was interrupting some silent talk between the two.

"Wait wait," Usagi objected. "I'll go with you. Let's get some ice cream. Do you want to come too, Rei-chan?"

Rei certainly didn't have the sweet tooth Usagi did, but she had some time between ceremonies. "Sure, I'd like that."

...

Monday night, the rain was still continuing to drizzle, making the night damp and cool. The street lights flickered on, illuminating the once-dark pathways. He stepped out on the sidewalk carrying a potion bottle filled with a strange purple liquid. "They're here somewhere," he said to himself. "I'll have to kill them before they can unite with the other senshi."


	6. Why'd it have to be raining?

Doxite stood in the rain, frowning. Why did it have to be raining? It messed up his hair, and like his sister - probably the only trait the two actually shared - he was incredibly vain about his appearance. He brushed his bangs to the side, brushing the water off the shoulders of his tunic.

His sister Dixite had already put her plan into action, now it was his turn to take care of two loose ends. Two other Eclipse senshi had shown up in the area, and they didn't seem to have any contact with either Sailor Sun or the Lunar senshi. Doxite's plan was to eliminate the two before they had a chance to unite, stealing their galactic crystals for his master. She'd reward him greatly, no doubt.

He shook the potion bottle he'd carried with him, causing the purple liquid within to bubble and swirl. "Come out, Hurakan!" he commanded, shattering the bottle on the ground. The potion mixed with the water on the ground, creating a large purple mist. From the mist emerged a muscular man with green skin wearing a fundoshi.

Doxite frowned. "Why are you never wearing anything decent?" he fussed at his summon, who simply shrugged in return. At least the creature was strong. "Whatever, just find those two Eclipse brats and kill them."

Hurakan bowed to his master then turned to dart off to find the two senshi, only to be assaulted by a massive wave of water. Doxite was also unfortunately caught in the attack, though to a lesser degree. Hurakan writhed in pain, while Doxite simply looked pissed. "Stop your wining, and get ready. They're here."

Down the pathway stood two senshi. The one on the right was taller with a purple collar and matching skirt. On her orange bows were purple diamond-shaped brooches. She didn't wear gloves but instead long purple bracers on her lower arms with two purple arm bands on her upper arms. She had two purple bands on one leg above her knee-high flat-topped boots. Her blond hair had two orange streaks and was pulled back into a high ponytail with a long white ribbon, the ends of which trailed down her back reaching her knees. She was tall and muscular, her orange eyes focused intently on Hurakan, holding an orange staff in her hands.

"It's about time you showed your ugly face," she scowled, her voice deep and harsh. "I am the Atomic Eclipse, Saturnalius."

Her partner in crime was shorter, standing in a considerably less aggressive stance, smiling sweetly. Her collar and skirt were a cotton-candy pink accented by a yellow bow with a pink diamond brooch. Her outfit was two-pieced, showing off her midriff. Her gloves were short, the edges scalloped to match the scalloped accents on her boots. Her hair was a deep blue, the color of the ocean, which she wore down She held a pink naginata, a traditional Japanese pole arm, standing it upright, the non-bladed end resting on the ground.

"And I am the Hydro Eclipse, Sailor Neptunusia," she introduced herself, her voice polite and soft, opposite of her counterpart.

"I don't care who you are," Doxite fussed, attempting to wring the water out of his hair. "Kill them, Hurakan. Take their crystals."

The mostly naked summon lurched forward, but Saturnalius quickly closed the space between them, dashing forward. She released her staff, letting it fade away, then pulling her right arm close to her body, forming a triangle with her arm and her shoulder. As they drew closer, Saturnalius took a low step, slamming her shoulder into Hurakan with a sharp strike emphasized by atomic energy.

Neptunusia simply stood bemused on the sidelines as Hurakan was thrown back several feet to where Doxite had perched himself. Doxite, quick on his feet, leapt out of the way, landing on a nearby bench safely. Hurakan wasn't quite so lucky, ending up on his face, his shoulder badly broken from the impact. Hurakan was down for the count in one hit.

Saturnalius stood up straight, completely unfazed by the impact, placing a fist into her open hand threateningly. "Next."

This Saturnalius was frighteningly strong, much more so than intel had denoted. Doxite frowned sorely at a loss. He knew little of Neptunusia, who simply hadn't moved from where she'd arrived, smiling softly as if it were a happy occasion. Perhaps if he could get her away from Saturnalius, he could take her crystal and be done with it. One less threat.

But that was musings for another day. It was time to cut his losses. "You've won this round, but don't expect to be so lucky next time," he threatened, disappearing into the rain, taking his poorly dressed summon with him.

...

She could feel the fight from a distance. She didn't know why but she could. She'd missed the bus so she decided to bear the elements and walk. And that's when she'd felt it, the power of a battle, the need to defend. She transformed and rushed over to the park, only to find she was too late for the battle. However, two senshi stood before her, two she hadn't seen before.

"It's about time you showed up," Saturnalius frowned coldly.

"Huh?" Sailor Sun blinked stupidly. "You know who I am?" It was the first time anyone had actually recognized her.

"You don't remember anything, do you." Saturnalius replied, narrowing her eyes a bit. "You're_supposed_ to be the leader."

"Leader?!" Sun echoed, surprised. Her? A leader? She barely understood her powers. She spent most of her senshi time trying not to trip over her own heels and not burn off her hair. How was she supposed to be anything but a novice?

"Ohoho, you're quite harsh," Neptunusia giggled. "I'm Sailor Neptunusia and this is Saturnalius. It is good to meet you again in person, Sun~."

"Saturnalius? Neptunusia?" Sailor Moon stared in surprise. She'd arrived just soon enough to hear the names. Only Sailor Mars accompanied her. After their Monday night study session, Usagi had gone home with Rei to talk about her reoccuring dream, though they never quite got to it in the conversation. On their way home, they sensed the fight and came to join in, only to be too late to the battle.

"Why are your names so similar to Saturn and Neptune?" Mars chimed in. "Just who are you?"

Saturnalius expected the Lunar senshi to not know who they were. That was how it had always been. "We are the Eclipse. We protect the silver moon from the edges of the galaxy. We were once your shadows, but we've awoken to stop a new threat, one that could destroy the entire galaxy."

They were here to help. She knew it. "Then come join us," Sailor Moon extended her arm. "Come fight along side us."

"My duty is to protect you, princess," Saturnalius countered coldly, "not be your friend. This isn't the Sailor Moon Best Friends Club." With her harsh words, she turned and simply left.

"Ohoho, that's my cue to go~" Neptunusia simply giggled, offering a polite bow. "Until we meet again, Princess Serenity."

Neptunusia left as well, leaving Sailor Moon grabbing for allies that weren't there.

**Author's notes:**

a fundoshi is a traditional loin cloth with lots of butt showing. It's pretty much underwear.


	7. Meanwhile, in the depths of Shinjuku

Sailor Moon hadn't quite withdrawn her hand, leaving it outstretched, waiting for a new ally to take it. "They... left..." It shouldn't have been as surprising as it was. The outers were initially aloof with her but had become close friends. Perhaps these Eclipse shadows would be too.

"Wait!" Sun shouted, darting off in the direction Saturnalius and Neptunusia had left. They were allies, and they had to work together to fight this chaos. Sun knew something was up. Phefe had warned her that chaos was trying to return, but Saturnalius seemed to know so much more. "Please wait!" And yet even as far as she'd run, she couldn't find them.

She came to a stop, letting her arms hang limply to the side. "What's going on, Phefe? What's with those two? Why won't they stay?"

The blue cat emerged from the shadows. "Saturnalius definitely knows something more than we do. Whatever memory she has, the rest of us seem to have sealed." Until now she'd kept herself hidden, following Sun from the sidelines. She wasn't particularly fond of the rain, but she was Sun's guardian. She had to be there for her.

Sun frowned. The bigger questioned seemed to be, why won't they share the information? The sailor senshi were known as a team, shadows or otherwise. Sun liked teamwork. Then no one was left alone to bear all the weight.

"Another cat guardian?" Luna interrupted, trotting up to meet them. Mars wasn't far behind, dragging Moon by the wrist. Moon was still rather crushed from the rejection.

"It makes sense you should have a counterpart too," Mars noted aloud with a nod. She seemed a little wary of the idea of having shadow counterparts, but with the vision she had the previous week, it all made sense. The senshi wearing red with Makoto's hair surrounded by fire. It had to be Sun. Those other elements must be the other shadow senshi, the Eclipse.

"The sun and the moon," Moon spoke up, taking Sun's hand suddenly. "We're opposites, but that doesn't mean we can't be friends. You don't need to be alone."

"Here, take this," Luna offered. With a little Luna magic, she'd conjured up another wristwatch communicator all the current senshi carried. It greatly resembled Moon's second transformation brooch.

"Luna, you're a genius!" Moon said excitedly, taking the wristwatch from her. "We all have one. It's a communicator. That way, if you're in trouble, you can call us and we can call you." She offered the item to Sun. "You won't need to tell us your real name."

Sun simply stared at it for a moment. It was hard to imagine that she was standing right here. For years, she'd watched the senshi on her tv, first Sailor V, then Sailor Moon. They were so beautiful and elegant. And here she was, with Sailor Moon wanting to be her ally, her friend. It was almost surreal.

Sun took the watch with a smile. "We'll fight together."

...

The spring tests had come and gone, as had the rain. Everything had seemed peaceful. No attacks by the mysterious new force, no need for sailor powers. It felt normal and serene, a gap within the chaos almost as if chaos had taken a vacation so that the senshi could take their spring tests.

In the nearby busy ward of Shinjuku stood a large, multi-story department store called Shinjuku MS Department Store. The building was tall, a dusty yellow with blue accents. Atop the building sat a sign with an S surrounded by a heart-shaped M. At night, the building lit up with neon lights tracing the contours of the structure.

The top floor of the department store had been unexpectedly shut down. The escalators up to that floor were blocked off with construction signs and the elevator only went up to the floor below. No employee could particularly say why the top floor had been shut down, only that it had been, perhaps for construction.

The floor itself was dark. Something lurked in the shadows cast by the sole light in the room. At the light sat a woman in a long cabernet red strapless dress. Her blue hair, decorated with two cabernet feathers, reached the floor. Her long pointed ears were filled with hoops and piercings. She wore an excessive amount of beaded jewelry, along with a golden medallion pendant which she took to flipping over in her hand in irritation.

Beside the queen stood a tall woman who wore the same gray tunic Dixite and Doxite wore with gray pants and black knee-high boots. The piping on her jacket was aqua green, matching the aqua highlights streaked in her blue hair. She also had a considerable amount of gems attached to the shoulders of her uniform. Pifite was the queens right hand and chief strategist. She also served as the commander of the generalites, the gray-suited generals of Shadow Galaxy.

"More have awoken?!" the queen hissed.

"Unfortunately, yes," Doxite replied, his voice shaking slightly. He'd taken a knee, bowing politely and respectfully to his rather irate master. "Yet they don't seem to want to team up with the Lunar senshi." After the fall of his poorly dressed summon, Doxite had stayed hidden in the distance, observing the interactions between the two teams. "Only Sailor Sun has."

"Sun," the queen hissed. "SUN?! She must die first!" She'd spent so much time destroying her and her Eclipse guardians after what they did, and now they had the audacity to return. She wanted them all dead, but Sun the most. Anything to do with PlanetSun and its infernal guardianship had to be destroyed.

"Dixite and I have put a plan in motion," Doxite continued. "As Pifite-sama predicted, the senshi seem to be localized in one area in Azabu-Juuban. Dixite has infiltrated one of the schools. I plan to use the data she collects to pin-point the current senshi. If we can locate the senshi in their civilian forms, they'll be helpless against our attacks." It was a brilliant plan. Doxite was far smarter than his sister, being a chemist with some tactical knowledge. Dixite was simply an airhead who hated to get her hands dirty.

"You better be going somewhere with this plan," the queen frowned. there was no way those Eclipse would survive this time.

"Of course," Doxite bowed his head deeper. "I'll stake my life on it."

…**..**

**Author's notes**

Shinjuku MS from the anime. Nephrite used it when he posed as Tuxedo Mask to lure out Sailor Moon and instead found Naru.

Shinjuku-ku itself is located near Minato-ku, where SM takes place (in the Azabu-Juuban district). It's a very busy commerce and business city, with tall buildings with neon lights everywhere.


	8. The big academic rivalry

"Wh-what the hell?" The usually quiet voice echoed down the crowded hallway, startling those around her. Ami stood in front of the ranking boards for the spring exams, frowning sharply, a passion flaring inside of her heart.

"What is it, Ami-chan?" Makoto asked, coming up behind her to look over the crowd with her height. Usagi and Minako attempted to hop high enough to read the boards.

"I don't believe it," Umino noted aloud, pushing his way to the front. He pushed his glasses further up his nose to get a better look at the top of the board. Given his height it was harder to read but someone had scored a perfect score on the tests, matching Ami's seemingly impossible scores.

"What's going on?" Juri asked, joining the crowd. She wasn't as tall as Makoto but she could still see somewhat over the crowd.

"Someone matched Ami's perfect score," Makoto replied. Only one person had ever done that before." she shuttered a bit, remembering the dorky creature Ami's rival Mercurius turned out to be.

"Wait, wait," Minako attempted to push past a few people. "Is Mercurius here?!"

Usagi managed to squeeze through and stare at the boards. The name next to Ami's was written 大門佐々見. "That name has too many kanji," noted, her eyes nearly glassing over trying to read them.

"Those are simple kanji, Usagi-san" Juri frowned. "The name reads-"

"Daimon Sasami." The entire crowd turned to see the source of the voice, a tall blond with two orange streaks in her hair, which was tied back by a long white ribbon which trailed down to her waist. She was accompanied by a shorter girl with soft features and long blue hair the color of the ocean. "Me." Her voice was deep and sharp.

Ami offered her a determined look as she strode through the now open pathway in the crowd. She barely stood up to the bottom of Sasami's collar. A new rival. This was exciting. She hadn't had a rival since her battle with Mercurius during the trial high school exams.

Sasami simply folded her arms, looking down at Ami with her deep orange eyes. The two seemed to lock sight, declaring a silent rivalry with one another. The air around them became a sort of heated debate, silently going back and forth between the two. Even wordless, the students around them could feel it.

The bell for first class rang, interrupting the silent staring contest.

"Ohoho, that's our cue to go, Sami~" the blue-haired girl said, pulling on Sasami's arm. "Until we meet again, Ami-shi." She offered a soft smile before the two left to find their classroom.

"Those two are strange," Minako stated, nodding her head with certainty as she watched them go. Who used -shi in normal conversation anyway? It was usually used in newspapers, not regular speech. What a weirdo. "Are they dating or something?"

"Strange or not, I will not be outdone!" Ami said, fired up about a new rivalry.

...

After school was a time for clubs. With the spring school festival rapidly approaching, the clubs were busy preparing for the booths and performances. Usagi and Minako were busy with detention as usual. Ami had chosen to hole herself away in the library to study more than humanly possible. Juri had disappeared to practice her archery so she could join the archery club. This left Makoto to her domestic club.

Before the festival, the club was still considering what to bake for their booth at the festival. the plan was to sell several different things to raise money for the club, but one dish was set to be featured as a special item. To choose the item, the club held a special cook-off between members, with the faculty sponsor as the judge. Makoto brought in chocolate chip brownies, something which was particularly popular with her friends.

Makoto set her plate of brownies on the table in the front of the classroom to be judged. The girl next to her sat down a plate of homemade mochi, a traditional snack of pounded rice with red bean paste filling which took over a day to make.

"Brownies? How modern, Makoto-shi," the girl smiled softly. "Prepare to be defeated~."

Makoto looked up only to realize that the girl was Daimon Akiko, the blue-haired girl who was with Sasami earlier. She wasn't sure why she didn't put it together that the girl was Akiko. She'd seen Akiko many times at club. Perhaps she was just out of place.

"Don't underestimate me, Akiko," Makoto frowned.

"Ohoho, of course not," Akiko giggled. "You're the only one I'd consider my rival." She offered Makoto a soft and demure smile, though there was a hint of deviousness behind it. She seemed fired up about the idea yet remained reserved, calm, and very polite, typical of an ideal lady.

The sponsor hushed the classroom, and the club members settled down in at the desks in their meeting room. The teacher had brought in a few other teachers to help make a decision. Each sampled each dish, debating on quality, skill, and sellability. The final decision came down between Akiko's mochi and Makoto's brownies. The teachers sampled each one again, unsure of what to pick.

"Final results," the sponsor announced. "Both are excellent dishes. It's quite clear both of you put a lot of thought and effort into this. We have decided that both dishes should be featured, though one will be central, and that is Akiko-kun's mochi. Congratulations!"

Akiko blushed, drawing a hand to her mouth for a soft giggle. "I'm pleased to have won this year~. Thank you so much."

Makoto congratulated her, though inwardly her heart was lit on fire with a passion to defeat this tittering girl. Was this what it felt to have a rival? It was thrilling and exciting, something she'd only felt in battle. In a way, it was a battle, and she had every intention of taking Akiko down through the power of cooking.

…

**Author's notes:**

Usagi's ability to read kanji is amazingly poor (at least in the anime). Then again I don't blame her. Kanji's hard. The kanji used in Sasami's name are relatively common, however. The first kanji, Sa 佐 is truly the most complicated of the kanji, though it's not really complicated in the first place.

-shi is usually an honorific used to denote formality and unfamiliarity with people. It's usually used in magazines and newspapers, which makes it a bit comical that Akiko is using it.

大門 Daimon 佐々見 Sasami. Daimon 大門 means big gate. Sasami roughly translates to helpful 佐 sight 見. The kanji 見 is used in the verb, to see. 々 is a repetition kanji so the previous kanji's sound is repeated.

大門 Daimon 明子 Akiko. Aki in her name is written as a compound kanji of sun 日 and moon 月 and means bright. I chose the name because it sounds incredibly feminine, but bright child is fitting because Akiko is the brighter, more feminine of the two.


	9. Mom made us fresh dumplings

_"Sailor Moon!" she shouted, reaching forward. "The light in the darkness!"_

_"Who are you?" Sailor Moon cried out. She felt lost, again, unable to reach the girl with the gloved hand. She reached and reached but could only grasp nothingness. "Where are you?"_

_"You're our only hope, Sailor Moon!" The voice shouted, echoing in the darkness as it faded away._

Usagi jolted awake, knocking Luna off her lap. Usagi had been watching the news with her father and brother, who was actually doing homework and not listening, while her mother was preparing dinner. She must've dozed off while petting Luna, not listening to some news anchor prattle on about strange occurrences around town. No, she was instead focused on the dream which was becoming more and more frequent. She didn't want to let anyone see her upset. They wouldn't understand.

"I'm going to spend the night at Mamo-chan's," Usagi announced, standing up suddenly and leaving the room. Her staying over at Mamoru's had become rather frequent, so the announcement wasn't too unusual.

"Usagi!" her mother shouted. "Take some dumplings with you for that Mamoru of yours!"

...

Usagi had barely packed a bag, just shoving her school uniform and some pjs into her bookbag. Her mother handed her a bento filled with fresh dumplings which she shoved into her purse before running off, not even waiting for Luna. Heading towards Mamoru's apartment, she suddenly changed directions, making her way to a nearby park.

It was a small park nestled in between three streets that intersected, forming a triangle, filled with a slide, two swings, and a sandbox. It was empty, since night had already fallen, the children all gone home to bed. It was a school night after all. She didn't particularly make a habit of coming to the park, not since Chibiusa had gone home. Chibiusa loved the park and even fled to one when she wanted to cry or or just be alone.

Usagi sat on the swing, pushing herself back and forth. Well this was relaxing a bit, giving her a moment to clear her mind.

"Usako." Usagi looked up to see Mamoru had spoken. How long had she been sitting there, swinging back and forth as she dug her heels into the dirt? How could she have noticed he drove up in his motorcycle?

He looked casual, wearing a green sweater and some slacks. He held Luna in his arms. "Luna was worried about you. _I'm_ worried about you. What's going on?" He'd been out of the loop lately, preparing college work and looking for an internship. He was quickly regretting not making himself more readily available for her.

"Oh Mamo-chan!" she cried. "What _isn't_ going wrong right now? I keep having this nightmare over and over again. I keep reaching for her and I keep losing her in the darkness." She was talking faster than her mind could think. "And then there's this problem where I can't summon a weapon to fight! We even got a new friend, Sailor Sun, but I can't fight along side her yet! And there's this new threat to the galaxy, a new enemy, and I can't fight them either!"

It was troubling, really. She'd been without a weapon before but somehow luck was on her side and she received a new one, like through her love with Mamoru or her love for Chibiusa. But this time, nothing came. The Silver Crystal wasn't even helping her out. She felt lost and helpless, something Mamoru could see very clearly in her teary eyes.

After Luna leapt from his arms, Mamoru pulled Usagi off the swing and into his arms, tightly embracing her. "Everything will be okay. I promise. I'm here for you whenever you need me. Now let's go back to my place. It's getting chilly outside."

He wasn't wrong. There was a chilly breeze flowing through the area. "Okay," she sniffled, pulling away from him to retrieve her bags she'd dumped at the edge of the swingset. "Mom made us fresh dumplings too."

"Dumplings will have to wait," the deep voice threatened.

Usagi, Mamoru, and Luna all turned in unison to see Doxite step through a portal with a vial purple liquid in his hand. Behind him through the portal stepped his sister, Doxite, who also held a potion, though a pink one. Mamoru stepped in front of Usagi. These two, their uniforms were strikingly similar to the Shittenou, but they were a different style. And while Doxite did have a similar appearance to Jadeite, it certainly wasn't him. These two must belong to that new threat Usagi had mentioned.

The two blond generalites stepped forward threateningly, causing Mamoru and Usagi to step backwards until they bumped into the slide and could back up no more. Snickering, Doxite popped open the top to the vial of liquid he held, shaking it until it crystalized into a large purple blade. Dixite followed in suit. "Just surrender now, Sailor Sun, and we won't have to cut your boyfriend in two," Doxite threatened.

Doxite had been following energy signatures and data collected by Dixite while she masqueraded around as Fujitou Fujita at the high school. A strong energy signature was the sign of a galactic crystal, or so he'd surmised. The strong energy reading radiating off the girl _had_ to mean she was Sailor Sun. There was no other explanation.

He thought she was Sailor Sun? How strange, but it wasn't the first time a bad guy mistook one senshi for the other. Usagi glanced at her bag that had been overturned with its contents spilling out on the dirt below the swingset. The box of dumplings had fallen out along with a notepad, her gameboy, and her watch communicator. With the two generalites there, reaching her communicator would prove difficult.

"Don't worry, Usako, I'll protect you," Mamoru declared. He placed a hand near his head as if he were tipping an invisible hat. He'd let Usagi carry such a burden, trying to fight a battle without power or hope. It was his turn to protect his love.

At a silent command, the top hat appeared in his hand, followed by a white mask. His clothes transformed into a formal tuxedo, then a cape flowed backwards, pushed elegantly by the wind. "I am Tuxedo Kamen, and I won't allow you to harm her."

Doxite paused. Intel had spoken nothing about a male. He didn't look like a sailor and thank god he was clothed. Doxite had enough of fundoshi. Just who was he and what sort of power did he have? Well whatever it was, Doxite had plans to destroy everything and everyone in his way, to stop the awakening of the Eclipse Senshi and to slaughter all their allies. He planned on using all his resources available to him.

"I don't care who you are," Doxite frowned. "It's time to die, fancy man." Doxite leapt forward with surprising speed, drawing his blade back to slice at Tux.

Tuxedo Kamen summoned his cane to his hands in time to block Doxite's assault. The blond general was surprisingly strong, causing Tux to use both hands to support the cane and prevent Doxite from overpowering him. Shifting his weight, Tux picked up his foot and gave Doxite a shove, pushing him backwards, but that was only a misdirect. He pushed one hand palm forward towards the two blonds, commanding "Tuxedo La Smoking Bomber!"

A large blast exploded from Tux's hand. Doxite attempted to block it by transforming his sword into a shield, yet that did little good. The shield shattered, throwing Doxite backwards and slicing him and Dixite with the shards.

While the generalites thoroughly distracted, Luna crept over towards Usagi's bag, grabbing the watch and flipping open the lid, sending out a broadcast for help. "Attack at Triangle Park! Anyone nearby please help! Please hurry!"


	10. Forgive me, I couldn't protect you

"Take this!" Minako sprang into action, spiking the volleyball over the net.

Juri leapt forward, attempting to counter and knock the ball at least upwards. She missed, the ball landed on her side of the court as she skidded and skinned her knee. Nothing serious. It would heal pretty quickly. "Your point," she grinned, recovering quickly back to her feet.

The night had been crisp and cool, and instead of heading home, Juri and Minako decided to feed their rivalry and have a rematch volleyball game. Their last match at the gym had been interrupted when Dixite burst through the wall, and the two really hadn't had a chance to have another game. So the two had retreated to an empty park to duke it out on the court.

"Ah! Are you alright?" Minako exclaimed. She was used to getting dirty, but she wanted to make sure Juri wasn't going to hurt herself. It was a friendly match, not a battle.

"Oh, I'm fine," Juri brushed off the concern. "It's nothing that won't heal." She had no problem getting a bit dirty. Retrieving the ball, she tossed it back to Minako. "Your serve."

"Right right," Minako nodded, catching the ball, considering they should've worn gear while playing instead of their school uniforms.

"Hey, hey, wait a sec," Juri suddenly interjected. "Do you hear that? Is that your phone?"

Minako paused, listening carefully. Sure enough there was a _pi pi pi_ sound coming from her bag. She knew that sound well, as it was the sound of her communicator watch sounding off with an urgent message. Someone was in trouble. Those generals must've attacked again, and someone needed help.

"It is!" Minako exclaimed, tossing the ball back to Juri. "That's my cue to go!" Quickly, Minako dashed to pick up her bag and head off down the street.

Strangely, though, the sound didn't stop when Minako had left. Juri's bag was ringing too. Kneeling down to rummage through it, she soon realized it was the communicator watch yelling. Juri hadn't heard it go off before, but she'd only had it for a few days. Since that rainy day, the battle scene had been quiet, evil taking a break so they could take their spring exams. And it seemed they were back in business and someone needed help.

Juri flipped open the watch, and a message played. "_Attack at Triangle Park! Anyone nearby please help! Please hurry!_" That was Luna's voice! It was time to act, time to be that ally Sailor Moon hoped she would be.

...

"You'll pay for that!" Dixite screeched, rubbing her face. It had gotten cut by the crystal in Tux's sudden attack. Dixite was incredibly vain about her appearance and hated for anything to happen to her beautiful face. She drew her hand back and threw the crystal blade at Tux.

A chain of heart links interrupted the attack, forcing the crystal blade to redirect and collide with the ground. Venus landed next to Tuxedo Mask, brandishing her heart link chain. "I am Sailor Venus, soldier of love and beauty! It's time we even the odds." Venus was well aware of Usagi's situation, of her lack of power. She had been the only one to confront Usagi on the situation, reassuring her that everything would be okay, that they'd all protect her.

"She's pretty," Doxite frowned, pulling another vial of potion from his pocket. Venus's beauty wasn't enough to distract him from his goals, however. With a lunar senshi showing up, the situation got more complicated, but no matter. He'd disable the fighters soon enough.

Dixite punched him in the arm, snatching the vial from his hand. "I'll show you, pretty face!" She shook the potion and threw it at Venus, who dodged but not enough as it collided with her foot. Crystal formed at the impact, weighing her down and quickly bringing her back to the ground. The crystal began growing quickly, overtaking her legs.

"Venus!" Usagi shouted.

"Don't!" Venus shot back. "I'll be okay!" She had a promise to keep. "We'll protect you somehow."

Tux was still mobile and approached, attempting to free Venus by striking his cane against the crystal. While he was distracted, Doxite nonchalantly tossed a potion at Tux's feet, one which began to grow and immobilize him too. Poor planning on Tux's behalf, but he certainly wouldn't let Venus suffocate in the crystal.

No, this wasn't happening. She couldn't lose them. Usagi panicked. She had all this power but right now she could do nothing. She could only transform, but fighting beyond that was near impossible, and she'd have to resort to her poor martial arts skills. Against these potions, she'd soon fall to them and probably die.

A single arrow flew past Usagi, colliding with the barrier which held Tuxedo Mask, cracking it slightly. "The Solar Eclipse, Sailor Sun is on the scene!" she announced from her perch at the top of the slide.

"WAIT!" Dixite shouted. "How are you there," she pointed at Sun, "when you should be there!?" the moved to point at Usagi.

Sun looked down to see Usagi huddled against the slide. "Usagi-san!" she exclaimed. She hadn't expected a civilian involved. This wasn't just a regular battle, it was a rescue mission. Leaping from the slide, she positioned herself between the generalites and Usagi. "It's okay, Usagi-san, I'm here for you."

Usagi stared up at Sun. She knew Usagi's name, and the way she said it reminded her of the way Juri spoke. It couldn't be, could it? Was Sailor Sun really Juri?

Sun smiled before turning around, drawing her bow with two arrows. Lighting them on fire, she released them, one aiming for the crystal around Tux, the other around Venus, "Double Solar Flare!" The arrows impacted the crystal enough to make it crack significantly, giving the two ample room to break free.

Sun then crossed her arms in front of her, forming an x shape with her forearms with her bow still in hand. _Defensive maneuver. Think defensive._ She was running on gut feeling at this point. She wasn't entirely certain she _had_ a defensive move, but something told her she did. Something else told her that the twin generals were about to launch a devastating attack.

While Venus and Tux were working to break free, Doxite shifted, withdrawing a new potion from his pocket. He shook it, crystalizing it, before throwing it overhanded at Sun. The crystal traveled surprisingly quickly between the Tux and Venus. Sun grimaced, praying to whatever sun god she could think of for help. A flame formed at the point where her arms crossed, quickly blazing into a lens-shaped shield. The crystal impacted the shield, shattering, the pieces glistening in the moonlight and fire like a thousand tiny sparkles.

Sun sighed in relief, not realizing a second crystal had been following in the shadow of the first. The second crystal impacted her shoulder sharply, piercing through her body and coming out the other side. She could feel the world growing darker as she felt like she was floating. Was she falling? Was that the beautiful silver moon hanging in the sky?

_Please forgive me, Usagi-san. I couldn't protect you._


	11. The twin diamonds

"SAILOR SUN!" The horrified shriek resounded through the park. Usagi could only watch in horror as Sun, her new friend and ally, took a possibly fatal hit to the shoulder. Sun collapsed next to her in the dirt, unconscious. "No! No!" she shouted repeatedly, pulling herself over to her friend. She had to do something. She had to, but what? She was practically pointless in battle. Fear had been consuming her heart, slowly casting a black shadow over her heart and mind. She'd lost hope, and this battle was making it even worse.

The repeating nightmare flashed in her mind. No matter how many times she reached out into the darkness, she always lost that person calling out to her. It was hopeless, always ending with the same results. Without hope, she just couldn't fight.

She pressed her hands against Sun's shoulder in hopes to stop the bleeding, praying for a miracle. Maybe, just maybe, there was a chance the Crystal would respond. Maybe she could fight the nightmare.

Venus turned for a moment, watching Usagi panic over Sun. Venus knew little about Sun, but she knew Sun was important to Usagi and seeing Usagi upset was just painful. But there was something else odd. On Sun's knee was a rather large, fresh scrape, just like the one Juri had endured in their volleyball game. She could see it rather clearly and was quite certain that wasn't caused by the crystals. Could she really be Juri?

No time for pondering. She turned her attention back to the blond generalites. "How dare you?!" Venus shouted, pushing against the cracked crystal binds. "Venus Explosive Power!" she commanded dramatically as if her actions needed a name, shattering the crystal and freeing herself.

Venus thrust her hands in front of her, summoning her wink chain. She had to stop these two blond enemies now before anyone else got hurt. Jumping forward, she called upon the power of Venus to attack Dixite, yet the woman simply phased out into a cloud of darkness leaving Venus to fly forward and land on her face in the dirt.

Forming another crystal blade, Doxite shifted to take advantage of Venus's folly and stab her in the back while he had the chance. Tuxedo Kamen, now free of his crystal binds, blocked the attack with the cane, allowing Venus time to recover and pull herself out from beneath them.

Doxite had no problem taking on the two of them. He was quick on his feet, dodging attacks from both Tux's cane and Venus's wink chain. He simply had to avoid another Tuxedo La Smoking Bomber. That nearly took his arm off.

Dixite materialized on the other side of the battle next to Sun. Usagi was still pressing down on her shoulder to attempt to stop the bleeding. Fortunately she'd just heard that in health class, but it didn't seem to be helping. She hadn't noticed Dixite yet and continued to pray and hope for a miracle.

Dixite pulled her arm back for an attack when she noticed light gather at Usagi's hands and began to heal Sun's shoulder. The light was intense, standing as close as she was, filled with hope and life. It was blinding really, so much that she didn't notice the two staves coming right for her. A pink and an orange one, they impacted her chest, throwing her backwards a few steps.

For everyone else, the light wasn't so blinding but it was warm and filled with hope.

"Saturnalius? Neptunusia?" Usagi stammered seeing the two land in between her and Dixite.

"Dixite, withdraw now!" Doxite commanded.

Venus and Tuxedo Kamen turned, surprised to see the two senshi who prevented the attack and had managed to stir the mastermind Doxite to a point where he wanted to retreat. So those were the two new senshi that had caused Usagi to cry. Were they friends or enemies?

Venus shifted her weight to give Doxite a swift screw punch while he wasn't looking, but he phased out into a puff of darkness before she had the chance to make an impact.

Saturnalius and Neptunusia crossed their weapons, summoning a bright light to where they touched. Diamonds began forming, first purple then a new pink joined them. Raising the staves up to the moonlight, they brought them down to their sides, instinctively mirroring one another as they moved. "Twin Diamond Crash!"

They hit Dixite at point-blank range, no time for reaction. Doxite phased in, catching her charred boy in his arms. Shock washed his face. It was too real. It was happening again. No, the past _could not_ repeat itself. He wouldn't let it. "Don't think this is over!" he hissed, standing up and retreating through a dark portal with Dixite in his arms. "It's only just begun."

With the two villains gone, Venus bounded up to the two new senshi, eyeing them suspiciously. It was her duty as the princess's double and all to make sure they were okay. "I thought you guys didn't like to play nicely."

Saturnalius stood tall, towering over Minako, staring down at her with her sharp orange eyes. She could easily see Venus was only being horribly overprotective but to whom? Had she become that quickly attached to Sun or was it the civilian? She'd seen her before. That civilian was one of Ami's friends. But that light she emitted had Saturnalius wondering who she really was.

"We are protectors, Venusian," she frowned sharply. "That is our duty."

Of the senshi standing there, Minako understood duty to a T. She was loyal first and foremost to Sailor Moon and the princess. But she also understood friendship, the bond she'd formed with Usagi herself. "What about friendship then?"

"We'll take our leave now," Saturnalius replied coldly, avoiding the question. "I see Sun is in good hands now."

"Ohoho, until we meet again~" Neptunusia tittered, and the two simply left, disappearing into the darkness again.

"What's with those two?" Venus gaped.

...

Meanwhile, in the depths of Shinjuku MS Department store, Doxite had set up a lab filled with bubbling chemistry equipment. He'd been working on some more formula for how to track down a civilian senshi to kill them before they could awaken and transform, yet the current senshi all seemed to arrive like flies to a carcass. And what was that strange light that girl was emitting? She was certainly someone to watch, though without Dixite planted as a substitute at the school, his source of information was cut off.

Doxite arrived in his lab through a portal, setting the remains of his sister down on a cot. There wasn't much left, nothing salvageable. There was no way to bring her back. As dumb as she was, she was still his sister.

He'd already failed her, but he couldn't fail their master. He'd work to meet the master's goals, to get their revenge. History would not repeat itself.

He pulled some paper off a notepad he kept at the edge of the table and began writing furiously. "A few adjustments to the formula, and I'll have the way to track down those Eclipse. I'll kill before they know what hit them, kill them before they have a chance to awaken."


	12. An accidental revelation

_"Good morning, Tokyo," the anchor on the morning news announced far more chipper than one should be at this hour._

The sun hadn't risen, yet Mamoru busied himself making a breakfast of eggs and rice. Usagi was still in bed, no doubt upset from last night's battle that nearly had gone wrong. The Silver Crystal fortunately had reacted to Usagi's heart, quietly healing Sun's wounds. Sun recovered well, though seemed rather horrified by the events. As Tuxedo Kamen, Mamoru offered to take her home on his motorcycle. She had him drop her off at the edge of a neighborhood and refused to let anyone else come with her. She hopefully made it all the way home.

_"This is Hayashibara Hamahara-kun, transferred in from our partner station from Sendai," the head anchor announced._

"What a strange name," Mamoru mused aloud, pushing the eggs around with a wooden spatula, idly wondering if Usagi would want anything in the eggs. Ham? Onions? Spinach? No, this was Usagi. Plain eggs would do. "A man with two last names."

Usagi wrapped her arms around his waist, leaning into his back. The smell of breakfast had woken her earlier than five minutes before class. "That smells good, Mamo-chan." Her voice was quiet, the hopelessness still weighing heavily in her heart. Why wouldn't it go away? Was that repeating nightmare really a premonition of what would eventually come?

_"Last night, in Minato-ku, tragedy struck," Hamahara continued with his report, catching Mamoru's attention. "Ishikawa Kohaku of the Azabu-Juuban district was found dead this morning, keeled over her homework. She seems to have suffered from a heart attack, though the family claims she had no prior medical issues. The police are not investigating as there seems to be no foul play."_

_"Death by homework," the head anchor noted. "What a way to go."_

More tragedy. "That poor girl," Usagi frowned at the TV. "I hope that doesn't happen to Ami-chan."

"I think she's used to studying. She'll be fine," Mamoru reassured her. Ami studied so much that Mamoru was quite certain she'd talk her way _out _of death by quoting facts or challenging the shinigami to an academic test and winning.

"You're right." Usagi pushed her face into his back again. He was so warm and comfortable. Just being around him made her feel a bit better. It always was. "I should start getting ready."

"I wasn't sure if you were going to school today." He would understand either way. Last night was a bit frightening; he could still see it drawn on her face as much as she tried to cover it up. He could still feel himself a bit shook up. Everything was supposed to be peaceful after that 'final' battle against Chaos, but it seemed chaos had other plans. These new villains were out for blood.

"I have to," Usagi replied, releasing Mamoru from her hold and retreating back into the bedroom. "I have to make sure Juri-chan is okay!" she shouted around the door frame.

"Your new friend?" Mamoru shouted around the corner, keeping an eye on the food to make sure it didn't burn. Usagi had made mention of Juri but hadn't said much more about her.

"That's right!" Usagi shouted back, pulling her shirt on before coming back into the kitchen in her school uniform. "I'm... well I haven't really told anyone this yet, but I'm pretty sure Juri-chan is Sailor Sun. I want to make sure she was okay. I want to make sure Minako-chan is okay too."

...

Mamoru dropped Usagi off at school before heading off to search for more internships. Juri had shown up, looking pretty normal as if nothing at all had happened, save the noticeable scrape on her knee. Usagi was a bit surprised. Was her theory wrong? Was Juri not really Sailor Sun? Or perhaps Juri was simply hiding whatever she felt to keep from anyone suspecting anything. It was really hard to tell, but Usagi continued on as if nothing had happened. She had to not let last night eat her alive. She had to find that hope again. She had to stop that nightmare from coming true.

Class was over, and Juri had stayed behind to gather her things. She was distracted. So much was going on in her mind she wasn't quite concentrating, and she overturned her book bag, knocking everything on to the floor.

"Juri-chan, are you okay?" Usagi asked. She'd returned to the classroom to grab her notebook she'd forgotten. Juri looked upset, and Usagi was sad when her friends weren't in the best spirits. With everything going on, she was pretty upset herself, attempting to mask it with smiles and happy words.

"Just a lot on my mind, Usagi-san," she replied, kneeling down to gather all the pens and notebooks that she'd knocked over.

Usagi knelt down beside her to help. Lifting up a notebook she found something she didn't expect to see. It was a communicator watch identical to the ones the senshi carried. Juri really was Sailor Sun. She was the only unknown senshi who carried one.

"It's pretty, isn't it?" Juri quickly spoke. To pretty much anyone, the watch was just a watch. It popped open to tell the time, had a band like the watches that popped out of a gashapon machine, and even ticked as the second hand moved.

Juri had no idea Usagi would recognize it, nor did she realize that she did. "It was a gift from a very dear friend." A friend she hoped that she didn't let down.

"Make sure to keep it safe then," Usagi handed it back to Juri with a soft smile. "What has you so distracted?" She wasn't entirely expecting an answer.

"Shortly after school," Juri replied, pushing the last of her things into her back and tucking the watch into her pocket, "I'm doing an official demonstration to try out for the archery team."

Usagi brightened up. That was definitely a lot better news than she'd expected to hear. "Really? That's great! Is it open to watch?"

Juri blinked at the question. She hadn't really thought of it. "I don't see why not. It's on the field in the back of the school."

"Great," Usagi grinned. "I'll be there to support you! I know you'll make it into the team!"

**Author's notes.**

Rice is pretty typical for breakfast, I'm told (I go to my roommate's family's house and everyone wants rice and eggs and spam). It's like having toast. Mamo-chan strikes me as a rice guy.

Ishikawa 石川 (stone river) Kohaku 琥珀 (amber) is the first victim of the crime spree.

Hayashibara 林原 (woods field) Hamahara 浜原 (beach field/plain). Hayashibara is a real last name; Hamahara probably is not. 原 hara is one of those kanji that changes pronunciation depending on the syllable that comes before it. It could be -bara, -wara, or -hara. I don't actually know all the rules for the sound changes, but it doesn't matter, because his name is obviously fake. Hamahara (-bara? -wara?) would be more suited for a family/last name anyway, not a personal/first name.


	13. The great archery demonstration

Usagi hadn't come alone to Juri's archery demonstration. She brought the other three girls with her, all to support Juri in getting into the archery team. They didn't bother to make an objection, as all of them had started to grow close to her, even Ami, who still had her nose buried in a book.

The captain, Kuroda, sighed. "Fan girls," he said, placing a hand on his forehead. He turned and approached them. "I'm sorry, girls, we don't need a distraction. Come back when we have our formal demonstration during the spring festival."

"Distraction?" Makoto fussed. "Look, we're here to support our friend Juri."

Kuroda looked at them warily. Juri's name was pretty well known in the archery world, so he wasn't entirely certain they were telling the truth. Then again, these girls didn't exactly seem like the archery-watching type.

"Ah! I'm sorry, Kuroda-senpai!" Juri interjected. "I asked them to come for support." She padded up to the group in her tabi socks and traditional sandals. She'd changed into a deep reddish-purple hakama with golden flowers with a dark gold top to match. Her sleeves were pulled back with a ribbon so she could properly move for the demonstration without the long sleeves getting in the way. "I hope it's okay."

"As long as they're friends, I don't see a problem," Kuroda replied. "Sit on the bleachers. The rest of the team should be here shortly." A few had trickled in so far. Their outfits weren't as colorful, as the boys usually wore plainer outfits.

"Juri-chan, you're so pretty!" Usagi gushed. It was great to see her friend so happy, even after last night. Her shoulder looked well too. Juri was as good at hiding the pain from a hard battle as Usagi was. After all, the next day could only be better than the last. She had to remind herself of that. She couldn't let this eat her alive.

"It's the outfit I wore to the Kanto championships," Juri smiled. They were all so kind to be here. It was humbling. "I thought it would bring me luck."

Usagi and company nestled into the benches as Juri went to prepare. Other members started arriving, including some other girls, though their outfits were simple as well. Juri must have spent a fortune on the outfit for custom dying and embroidery. Usagi idly wondered what her family did to afford that outfit. Custom outfits like that could cost a small fortune.

The demonstration began with some simple straight shots, each landing perfectly in the center of the target. Then she got a bit fancy, twirling the arrows in her hands or tossing them a bit before shooting them off, hitting the target every time. If there was one thing she was good at above anything else, it was archery. She worked hard to get where she was and had every desire to remain nearly undefeated.

On the side of the archery field was a pathway leading down towards the sports field. The American football team passed by. Hardly an uncommon occurrence for the day, though Makoto spotted among them a girl with long blue hair. She turned for a moment to watch Juri's demonstration. That girl with them, that was definitely Akiko, her own rival, but what was she doing with the amefuto team? Someone so prim and proper certainly wouldn't enjoy a rough sport like that.

Juri exchanged bows with Kuroda. "Welcome to the team," he said as they rose back to standing posture.

Juri could barely hold her excitement as she gave a few hops before bowing once again. "Thank you, I won't let you down, senpai."

...

"That was truly amazing!" Minako exclaimed, nearly bounding in excitement as the group walked down the sidewalk towards the Hikawa Shrine for an afternoon study session. She was happy when she excelled in sports but it was fun to celebrate a friend too.

"Congratulations again," Makoto smiled.

"Thanks for being there," Juri was still beaming from the demonstration. It was nice to have something go right.

Usagi nodded. "Of course. Friends stick together." She nudged Ami who was walking beside her. "Right, Ami-chan?"

"Hm?" Ami looked up from her book, seemingly unaware of any of the conversation.

"Ami-chaaaaaaan," Usagi whined, "You're studying before we even get to Rei-chan's!"

"I have to devote everything to studying," Ami objected. "I cannot let Daimon Sasami beat me at another test."

"How is that beating?" Makoto blinked. "You both scored perfect scores."

"I will not be outdone!" Ami proclaimed, returning to her book.

Juri stared at Ami for a moment. She was fired up so much since the spring exam scores were posted, but Juri could understand it. She had a heated rivalry with someone on par with her. Juri had Minako to fight with over volleyball. It was thoroughly enjoyable.

"AKURYO TAISAN!" The commanding voice echoed down the pathway.

"Rei-chan!" Usagi exclaimed, dashing down the pathway. The others followed and dragged Usagi back into the cover of the trees when Doxite came into view. He was facing off against Rei, dressed in her miko robes, who was adamantly protecting a girl with long green hair pulled back into a thick braid. She wore the same uniform as Juuban Municipal, though none of the girls recognized her.

The temple miko had also taken cover inside the temple at Rei's instruction, leaving Rei to fight the blond villain.

"Stay back!" Rei threatened. "I won't allow you to harm this girl!"

Rei's situation was looking rather dire. While she was a powerful miko, Doxite was a powerful opponent armed with an arsenal of potions. With the green-haired girl and Doxite as audience, transforming was out of the question. She simply had to hold out until the others got there for their study session.

Juri could see the poor outcome of the situation. She couldn't let it happen again. He'd done enough damage to her and after seeing Usagi's panicked face at the park, she couldn't let Doxite harm anyone else. "I'm Sorry, everyone. I need to go fight him. I need to save Rei-san."

…

**Author's notes**

The captain's name is Kuroda 黒田. It means black rice paddy. I just like the sound of 黒 kuro. The kanji is really cool looking too. I never really picked a personal name for him, so he's always called by his family name. He's a third year (senior) so he's everyone's senpai.

Juri's outfit is based off pictures I've seen of female archery demonstration teams. Custom embroidery and dying are extremely expensive in Japan. Her outfit could easily cost upwards of yen equivalent to several thousand dollars.


	14. Roses and thunder

"I need to save Rei-san," Juri announced. She could feel her hands shaking, fear at the back of her mind that she couldn't cheat death twice.

The group simply stared, save Usagi who spoke up first. "Juri-chan..."

"I'm sorry, Usagi-san," Juri apologized. "I wasn't able to protect you last night, not like I wanted. I'll make it up to you. I'll protect everyone, even if you must know my secret."

"Juri-chan," Usagi grabbed her arm, not letting her go. Usagi knew what Juri was trying to do and she couldn't allow her to do it alone. She couldn't risk losing Juri again. She had to try to do something, to shake off this feeling of hopelessness, to stop the nightmare from coming true.

"Usagi-san," Juri objected. "Let me go. I know what I'm doing."

"Juri-chan," Usagi countered. "You don't have to fight alone."

She paused. Those words, they were the same that Sailor Moon had said that night in the rain. It couldn't be a coincidence. "What?"

"Juri-chan, I'm sorry about last night," Usagi continued. "I wanted to fight with you, I really did. But something stopped me, and I'm upset with myself for it. You almost died because of me! I can't let that happen again. I can't lose my friend. The sun and the moon should fight together again."

Usagi knew quite well she didn't have a means to fight, but perhaps with everyone together again, she'd be able to summon something to fight, maybe a past weapon which hadn't broken. It worked before. Everyone's power had helped her before. They'd help her shake off this dark shadow in her heart.

The act wasn't really surprising to the other three. Usagi had become rather attached to Juri over the past two weeks for an unknown reason, though it was quickly becoming apparent. Juri was Usagi's shadow, the sun and the moon. They had a connection which none of the others quite understood. And Usagi wanted to pull Juri out of the shadows into the light so they could fight side by side.

"We'll fight too," Minako spoke up, summoning her crystal to her hand. Her conclusion was right after all. Juri really was Sailor Sun.

...

Doxite threw the potion on the ground, creating another golem, this one made of grass and wood. The general frowned at his creation once again. "Why can't I create a golem who _doesn't_ wear a fundoshi?" he sighed. He really needed to rework that formula. "Whatever, just kill them both and take the green-hair's crystal."

"Stop right there!" Eternal Sailor Moon announced. "We are the pretty sailor-suited soldiers of justice, and we won't allow you to harm either of them!" She seemed quite confident despite not actually being able to fight yet. She had to figure out a means to fight, else she'd just be full of empty introduction speeches.

Mercury peered over her book for a moment. She had to keep studying, but a quick analysis would only take a moment. "The golem's weakness is fire," she stated, then returned to her studying.

"Well that's my cue," Sun stated confidently, summoning her bow to her hand. She pulled it tight, forming a fire arrow as the golem lumbered forward. Doxite didn't even bother to call it back, as the golem was an idiot in a fundoshi anyway. He instead turned his attention back to Rei and the green-haired girl.

Sun released her arrow, commanding "Solar Flare!" The golem hardly had a fighting chance, catching fire and fizzling away quickly. It was a highly flammable creature only meant as a distraction as Doxite took Rei into one hand in an attempt to restrain her from fighting him. She attempted to hit him with her broom though unsuccessfully.

"Rei-chan!" Sailor Moon turned her attention to him. She held her hand in front of her to summon her eternal tiare, but it still wouldn't come. "Come on, work," she fussed at it, attempting to summon a weapon. "Something! Anything! Cutie Moon Rod! Kaleidoscope! Moon Stick! Pink Sugar Stick! Come on!"

Was she losing her powers? Was her future self even able to fight as a senshi? Could this be an inevitable transition to her destined future? Or was it that nightmare that continued to eat away at her mind, the feeling of helplessness and loss of a true friend that threw her into tears in the middle of the night?

It was a strange feeling. Sun could feel Moon's frustration and anger, her pain and fear. She couldn't fight, and it scared her. Sun could feel it all, desperately fighting back the heaviness in her heart. She placed a hand on Moon's shoulder, wanting desperately to say she'd fight in her place. Yet something held her back. She had her own doubts and fears, as well. It was a bad combination.

"I'll take care of this," Jupiter jumped forward boldly, crossing her arms in front of her almost as if she were hugging her body. "Jupiter Coconut Mini Cyclone!" Coconut Cyclone was one of her more powerful attacks, yet she didn't want to hit Rei or the girl, so she toned it down, barraging Doxite with a flurry of small coconuts. He released Rei in an attempt to shield himself from the ridiculous attack.

Jupiter shifted to throw a larger, more powerful attack at him but suddenly paused when she noticed the green-haired girl began to glow. A bright light appeared at her chest and suddenly appeared a large bright green rose-shaped brooch.

"Another Eclipse?" Venus exclaimed. Even Mercury peered over her book.

The girl took the newly formed brooch in her hands. It sparkled as she gave it a command. "Rose Petal Power!" Roses and lightning surrounded her as she transformed into a brown-collared sailor senshi. Her outfit was two pieces, showing a bare midriff. Her dark golden bows were decorated with the bright green brooch. Her gloves were fingerless, and her boots were knee-high and open in the front, lacing up like a tall pair of sandals.

"I am the Thunderous Eclipse, Sailor Jupitercouri!" she announced. Wait, how did she know that. "I'd say...?" Without thought, she pulled a pair of butterfly knives out from the inside her boots, crossing them in front of her to generate electricity. "Brainstorm Crash!"

Doxite gritted his teeth in frustration, quickly phasing backwards and away from the attack. Another Eclipse managed to surface before he could steal her crystal. If that miko hadn't gotten in the way, he would've taken another one in his hands. The fewer Eclipse, the better.

While his plan certainly was foiled, he was quickly reformulating his calculations in his head, planning on improving the formula to track down galactic crystals before they became something useful. He was successful once, tearing out a crystal to an unawoken Eclipse. This time, however, resulted in a failure. But he'd learned something. That Sun and Moon, they affected each other. Moon's inability to fight affected both of them.

"You win this round, Eclipse senshi," Doxite hissed, withdrawing into a portal. "You won't be so lucky next time."

**…**

**Author's notes.**

Doxite's previous victim was an unawoken Eclipse senshi from the previous chapter, Ishikawa 石川 (stone river) Kohaku 琥珀 (amber). She was intended to be Mars's mirror. Ishikawa is a play on Hikawa, the Hino family Shrine.

The original name of this chapter was going to be "Jupitercouri comes thundering in."


	15. This is really weird I'd say

Saturnalius frowned sharply, leaning against the edge of the roof. She and Neptunusia had perched themselves on the edge of a temple building nearby the courtyard. They'd followed Doxite's trail, preparing to intervene. Yet with the arrival of the lunar senshi and Sun, they simply decided to watch, observing the situation.

"I'm concerned," Neptunusia frowned as well. "While a new Eclipse certainly is a welcomed sight, Sailor Moon's loss of power is rather troubling. Perhaps we should consider joining up with the team."

"It's best we protect from a distance," Saturnalius objected, much to Neptunusia's dismay. "It's not our duty to be friends. Now we should go. Doxite's been busy lately."

Neptunusia sighed delicately. Doxite had been busy, but she still didn't see a reason they couldn't aid the lunar senshi. _Perhaps soon Saturnalius will change her mind_, Neptunusia mused as the two Eclipse senshi left the temple grounds.

...

Jupitercouri stared at her butterfly blades for a moment. They were flat, the edges smooth. Each blade had dark gold ribbons attached to them, matching the bows on her outfit. They really had no point in fighting, as there were no sharp edges whatsoever. Their only purpose seemed to be to conduct electricity, which she still wasn't entirely certain how she did it.

She instinctively slipped them back into her boots. Sailor Moon nearly jumped the girl excitedly. "Another senshi!" She was ignoring her earlier outburst that she couldn't fight. She'd deal with that later. That dark shadow weighing down her heart could wait. Right now, it was time to celebrate and be happy that a new friend had joined the team.

"This is really weird, I'd say," Jupitercouri replied, hugging her back. She'd seen Sailor Moon on TV and the news but to meet her in person was weird, to become part of her team was even weirder.

Sailor Moon released her new friend, smiling before powering down.

Sun stared, shocked to see such a move. Rei was here. They'd kept their identities apart for the last two weeks and suddenly it didn't seem to matter anymore. "Is it okay to just do that?" Sun stammered.

Rei stared equally, but at Sun. Usagi must've learned Sun's identity to do such a bold act in front of someone they barely knew, Rei reasoned. "I'm Sailor Mars," Rei informed Sun nonchalantly. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to go make sure the temple's still in one piece. The side room is open."

Sun stared for a moment. "Sailor Mars?" This day really was full of surprises.

The other lunar senshi powered down as well. Sun followed suit, her heart crystal brooch becoming the heart necklace she always wore. After some guesswork, Jupitercouri powered down as well, her rose brooch becoming a pair of bright green rose earrings.

"This is still very strange, I'd say," the former Jupitercouri repeated, fiddling with the earrings. How did they do that? Could she become that Jupitercouri person again with these things?

"My name's Usagi," she introduced herself. "And this is Mako-chan, Minako-chan, Ami-chan, and Juri-chan. We're all in class 2-3."

"I'm Kasumi," the former Jupitercouri introduced herself. "I'm in class 2-1."

...

The girls retreated inside the temple to their usual meeting room, a tatami room with a small table in the center. After securing the temple and calming down the miko, Rei had joined them, bringing in tea and rice snacks. The girls explained what they'd learned about the Eclipse senshi and the battle with the Shadow Galaxy, as little information as anyone had. The only one who seemed to know what was going on was Saturnalius, and she hardly wanted to speak to anyone. No one had quite mentioned Usagi's failing powers, simply avoiding the subject altogether.

"So I'm essentially a mirror of Jupiter?" Kasumi questioned, glancing over at Makoto. She wasn't entirely sure she understood this Eclipse mirror business, but she did like the ideas of shadows. It was strange, sitting here with everyone. She could feel a strange strength in her heart.

Juri nodded. "We're all mirrors of the Lunar senshi. I'm a mirror of Sailor Moon."

"That's pretty strange, I'd say," Kasumi noted. It was like living in a strange fantasy novel.

"Do you remember anything about Eclipse in any way?" Minako asked. "Sometimes awakening your powers stirs up memories of the past."

Kasumi thought for a moment. "Darkness," she replied, closing her eyes for a moment. "There was a battle against a gray-suited man with long-wavy brown hair. He cast the world into darkness. That's all I remember." She shrugged nonchalantly. The idea of an apocalypse didn't bother her as much as it probably should.

"I keep getting the feeling something tragic in a previous life, too," Juri added. "I just can't remember what it is. Just so much darkness and so little hope."

"Saturnalius seems like the only one who has the answers," Makoto noted. "Somehow we need to get her to talk."

"Could it be there was another battle going on at the same time as the battle with the Metallia in the Moon Kingdom?" Rei pointed out before taking a sip of tea. She brought up a good point. They had their memories of the Silver Millennium, but they only knew what happened within the solar system they protected.

Rei continued to inform the two Eclipse senshi of the past battle with the Dark Kingdom, how Metallia had started the battle, and how the Queen Serenity attempted to end it. The senshi had always wondered idly what else had happened during the rule of the Silver Moon, if there was something else going on.

"If the Eclipse senshi are the deep space guardians of the galaxy, they had to exist at the same time our past lives did. It makes sense," Ami chimed in, finally placing her book down on the table. She looked tired, probably from lack of sleep due to excessive studying. It wasn't the first time she'd done this. She studied excessively to defeat her rival, Mercurius, in the high school entrance exams. "It's hard to say though. It's all theory at this point. We have close to no information."

It was truly frustrating. Saturnalius had the information wanted nothing to do with the senshi, though she did protect Sailor Sun last night. She only showed up to protect or fight Doxite then left without answering any questions. She was certainly incredibly powerful, especially as a mirror of Sailor Saturn, a senshi who could destroy a planet when she tapped it with her glaive.

Usagi silently vowed to find a way to speak to her, to become her friend.

...

Two nights later, across town, a shadowy blond figure approached a young girl, playing video games. She didn't notice him standing behind her as she ruthlessly destroyed the virtual bad guys. She suddenly began to feel someone touch her back, then everything began to grow fuzzy. She shook her head but her vision hadn't cleared up. She turned sharply to catch a glimpse the blond man holding a crystal before the world simply went black.

Game over.

…**.**

**Author's notes:**

Jupitercouri is the only Eclipse senshi to have physical weaponry. All others are manifestations. Her butterfly blades are based off the Shaolin knives called Bi shou. The knives are flat and are primarily used for close combat and throwing.

Sailor Jupitercouri's name is Mori 森 Kasumi かすみ. Her name means 森 forest and かすみ mist, so essentially misty forest. It seemed fitting to make a reference to Makoto's affinity with wood (and her last name) as she's a mirror of Jupiter.


	16. You should be studying!

_"Another mysterious death in Minato-ku, second one this week," announced the green-haired news anchor with two last names, Hayashibara Hamahara. He twirled a pencil in his hand as he spoke. "Inoue Haru was found dead this morning in her room, keeled over her game controller. The death is indeterminate, though assumed to be a health issue. As last time, police are not investigating."_

Minako frowned at the TV as she passed by it. Her father was listening to the news before work. Minako couldn't understand why no one was investigating into the matter, but she didn't have that much respect for the police. The superintendent of police spent more time fawning over Sailor V than doing her actual work. It only made sense nothing got done.

_"Such a strange tragedy, isn't it, Hamahara-kun," the head anchor noted. "School girls dying due to a mysterious heart attack. Perhaps an epidemic?"_

_Hamahara laughed, adding, "Maybe it's the cafeteria food."_

"Minako!" her mother shouted, brandishing a ladle at her. "Get out the door and go to school! You'll be late! Again!"

...

Sure enough, she was late. Very late. Again. She was always late. Minako pedaled faster on her bike, swinging around the corner quickly only to collide with someone. She landed on the girl, her bike flipping over both of them and colliding with the hedges.

"Ah! I'm sorry!" Minako apologized, pushing herself to her feet then suddenly recognizing her victim. "Kasumi-chan!"

She offered Minako a friendly smile. "That was a pretty wild maneuver, I'd say." She pulled herself to her feet, looking up at Minako from behind her long, bright green bangs. "I'm just glad you weren't a vampire."

Minako frowned sharply, a bit creeped out.A normal assumption would be some sort of attack by thugs, yet somehow the first thing in her mind was vampires. What a strange girl. "Why would I be a vampire? In the morning?"

Kasumi waved the idea off. "There was a blood moon last night. Those always remind me of vampires, I'd say."

"There aren't any vampires here, they went home," Minako nodded reassuringly. She and Usagi had dealt with them some time ago. Lyrica and her mother 'went home', which really meant they were vanquished when she and Usagi had to save Chibiusa and her friends.

"That's reassuring, I'd say," Kasumi nodded.

Minako wasn't entirely sure what to make of this girl. The more Kasumi talked, the weirder Minako thought she was. After all she'd been through, it was hard to call someone 'weird' but this girl was very quickly defining the word.

...

Inside the hallways of the school, a staring contest had once again resumed. Sasami and Ami began to stare one another down, as if having a silent debate with one another. There was an understanding between the two, a heated silent rivalry of intelligence and wits.

Yet there was something more. Sasami could see the calm ice in Ami's eyes, while Ami could see a fierce atomic explosion within Sasami's. There was an understanding of not only intelligence but also of power. Each knew the other held some sort of powerful secret but neither brought it to words.

Minako arrived on the scene with Kasumi in tow, and they joined Makoto who was already there observing the silent competition.

"So Ami-chan really is Sasami-kun's rival," Kasumi observed.

"Wait," Minako pushed her hands out as if signing for someone to stop their car. "You know Daimon Sasami?"

Kasumi nodded. "Of course. The Daimon twins are in my class. Sasami-kun has been heated up over a rival since the spring exams, I'd say." Normally Sasami kept to herself, as did Kasumi, but she'd noticed Sasami had been fired up over an academic rivalry, shoving her nose into a book more often than usual.

"They've been going at it since then," Makoto nodded. "I don't think Ami's slept at all."

Ami broke the silence between the two, pulling a paper from her bag and pushing it into the space between the two. "There's a university entrance practice test tomorrow night. Take it with me so we can see who's best."

"Tomorrow night?" Akiko echoed, taking the paper from Ami. She'd been standing next to Sasami as usual, silently smiling as if nothing were out of the ordinary.

"Can't do it," Sasami refused. "I have something else planned."

Ami looked shocked. "If you have time for something else, you should be studying!"

Sasami narrowed her eyes at Ami, studying her. She looked exhausted, bags forming under her eyes. Her eyes themselves seemed to have lost their vibrant blue color. "When have you last slept?"

Makoto and Minako gaped at the question. They knew Ami's study habits well, that she never seemed to sleep when she was intent on passing something. Ami knew how to hide it well, usually by wearing her glasses or simply hiding her face in a book. But Sasami, who barely knew Ami, picked it up right away, even behind her glasses.

"Another study session, Daimon-kun?" interrupted a boy about the same height as Sasami, short orange hair pushed delicately to the side. While most people strayed from her, this boy had no problem approaching her and offering a friendly smile.

"Not this time, senpai," she replied, turning to him, her expression softening. Ami gaped and stared at Sasami while she shifted the conversation momentarily. "I'm not about to let the team down." She offered him a very subtle smile.

"We'll count on you being there," he said with a nod. The two bumped elbows before he headed off down the hall to his homeroom.

"Who was that?" Minako marveled, hearts and sparkles filling her eyes.

"I think he's one of the sports captains," Kasumi nodded. She wasn't entirely sure, but she'd seen Sasami with him quite a bit. She knew Sasami played on a sports team, but as she hardly spoke to anyone, asking her which one seemed pointless.

"He's so dreamy and gorgeous," Minako nearly drooled. "I want him to be my boyfriend."

Makoto grabbed her blond drooling friend by the collar as the first bell rang. "We have class, Mina. Let's go."

The twins chose to leave as well, though not before Sasami put a hand on Ami's shoulder. "There's a practice exam next Tuesday. I expect you'll get some sleep before then. I want you in top condition."

…

**Author's notes**

Inoue Haru 井上 春 is Sailor Uranus's mirror. Her first name, Haru, means spring.

Calling her Sasami-kun is referring to her tomboyish nature. There's more to it, though, which will soon be revealed.


	17. The ikebana initiative

It bothered Makoto for some reason. She wasn't sure why but it did. It was something to occupy her mind, to distract her from the rather dismal senshi-based situation at hand. The team was a mess. Usagi couldn't fight and half the Eclipse wanted nothing to do with them. They were fighting blind. Dismal.

This new mystery was a perfect distraction. The Daimon twins were a mystery to most. They stayed away from most people and only seemed to speak with themselves. They also wore matching gold bracelets with a single embossed diamond on them. Makoto had seen Akiko more than anyone else, as the two were in the same club. In a way, the two had become rivals, attempting to outdo one another. And today was no different.

It was ikebana day at the club. Ikebana was the art of flower arrangements which involved artistry, grace, and subtlety. Makoto wasn't always good with the subtlety, but she understood one thing about ikebana. She had a connection with her own element of wood when arranging the flowers. And she certainly wasn't about to be outdone by the perfect Akiko.

Makoto chose a small green dish to start her ikebana, while Akiko had chosen a golden one. Makoto stared at the items she'd chosen. Stones, long thick leaves, small flower petals, and a rose bud. She peered over at Akiko to notice her rival had already started the arrangement, choosing some more delicate items like iris and smooth pebbles to place the shapes together.

Makoto shook her head. _Concentrate!_ she scolded herself. She couldn't be outdone, but her mind was somewhere else at the moment. Sasami and Akiko. The two were strange, suspicious even.

Last week, Makoto saw Akiko hanging out with the American football team. A delicate flower like Akiko didn't fit in with a rough-and-tumble sport. That seemed more something the rough Sasami would do, but she was nowhere to be found.

Then there was this morning. Sasami belonged to some sports team that was playing tomorrow night. She even turned Ami's challenge down for it. Could it be that Sasami was playing football? No, the idea was kind of absurd. Girls didn't play football, not even the rough ones. Yet the idea was rather curious. There were two sports games tomorrow, one of which was football. She'd have to go scope out the game.

"Giving up so soon, Makoto-shi?" Akiko asked coyly.

Makoto jolted back to reality only to realize she was just holding the pebbles and nothing had gotten done. She'd practically thought the competition away. She glanced at Akiko's work, noting the delicate touch she'd given her arrangement and the work it took to get that iris to stand at an angle and not fall over.

"Don't count me out yet," Makoto grinned, quickly putting the pebbles at the bottom of the dish. She quickly put arranged the flower petals, leaves, and the single rosebud to make a tall-standing design that fanned out in the center.

...

The next afternoon, Akiko was still busy licking her wounds after a crushing defeat from her rival. She couldn't understand how Makoto had arranged such a beautiful arrangement so quickly and without second thought. It was like second nature to her, and Akiko didn't like to be outdone in domestic and artistic affairs. This put them one for one against each other, placing them on even grounds once more.

"Still mourning your loss yesterday, Aki?" Sasami frowned, pulling a pair of yellow-tinted wraparound glasses from her bag and slipping them on.

"Certainly I wouldn't mourn over such a thing," Akiko replied quickly, her voice still delicate and calm, her expression unchanged from the usual soft smile.

"Sounds like something I'd say," Sasami shrugged. Perhaps her nature was finally rubbing off on her sister, though given it was Akiko, the idea was rather frivolous. Akiko was always the perfect one. Domestic, pretty, calm, and always in control of her emotions. Seeing her a bit frazzled was rather amusing.

"Ohoho~ Don't be silly, Sami," Akiko objected. "Now shall we go? The game will start soon."

Makoto peered around the corner to see Sasami and Akiko turn and walk down the hallway towards the gym. The other girls had gone off for clubs or make-up tests, leaving Makoto on her own to follow the mysterious twins.

She had listened to their conversation. They spoke so differently to one another than everyone else. Akiko's words were still formal and proper yet Sasami's words seemed more relaxed than usual. Makoto didn't have any siblings to speak of, but certainly siblings talked differently to each other than to other people.

Makoto weaved through the hallways, following them quietly until her dress seemed to snag on something. She turned to free herself from whatever had caught only to realize she had been caught by Minako.

"What are you doing, Ma•ko•chan?" Minako grinned deviously. "Trailing the twins suddenly?"

"They're up to something," Makoto replied. "And I think I know what. I'll just need to confirm it. Now let go, Mina."

"You're just trying to find out who that cute orange-haired boy from yesterday really is, aren't you?" Minako continued, pressing on a completely irrelevant subject.

Makoto sighed. "You can have him all you want, Mina. I'm more interested in whatever Daimon Sasami seems to be hiding."

"Good!" Minako beamed. "Now let's go see that cute boy!" She put a hand over her eyes as if attempting to scope someone out in broad daylight. Except that she was inside. "I lost them."

Makoto peered over the sea of classmates in the hallway. "I did too, but I think I know where they went. Follow me." It was a stab in the dark, really, but her chances of finding the Daimon twins again weren't all that bad. Now to confirm her suspicions.

…

**Author's notes:**

Makoto really struck me as the type to know how to do ikebana, particularly because of her affinity with roses and wood


	18. Miss perfect wouldn't come here alone

"Football, Mako-chan?" Minako frowned a bit. She never really got into the sport, but it wasn't beyond her comprehension. What she didn't understand, however, is why Makoto thought they'd find the Daimon pair here.

The two had managed to find two nosebleed seats at the back of the stadium. The afternoon was bright and sunny, and the game hadn't started yet. Makoto scanned the colorful sea of people in front of them, searching. She was almost positive she was right about this.

"There," Makoto pointed to the bench on the edge of the field.

Minako squinted. "There what?"

"Look, it's Akiko on the bench," Makoto pointed out. In the very first row was a girl with long bright blue hair sitting next to a very tall girl with two-tone streaked blue hair pulled back into a low ponytail.

"Are you sure?" Minako countered, squinting to attempt to see Akiko from this distance. "Seeing her this far away is like trying to hit the narrow side of a barn."

"Broad side."

"What?"

"Nevermind," Makoto frowned. "I know it's her. It's not the first time I've seen her with the football team. I get the feeling Daimon Sasami is here somewhere. Miss perfect woman wouldn't be here alone." Akiko always struck Makoto as a Yamato Nadeshiko - the perfect form of a Japanese woman with a strong heart and a hidden blade up her sleeve. She was domestic, pretty, polite, and always in control of her emotions. Being at a football game seemed completely out of character.

The announcer tapped the mic a few times before speaking. "Today's match is the Juuban Knights versus the Akasaka Sailors! Introducing the visiting team today! The quarterback is..."

"Do you really think that Daimon Sasami's big secret is football?" Minako frowned, still not convinced. "Maybe that Akiko has a boyfriend on the team. Or a brother."

"We'll find out soon enough," Makoto nodded, fishing for a pair of sunglasses in her bag. She was still certain this was somehow related to Sasami's big sports obligation, though Minako wasn't entirely wrong. Football did seem a bit far-fetched.

"Now to introduce the Juuban Knights!" the announcer continued. The two girls perked up for a moment. "Quarterback, Takahashi Katsuro, the cunning field commander!" On the field entered the quarterback, the orange-haired boy they'd seen the morning before.

"Look, look, Mako-chan!" Minako pointed excitedly. "It's the orange-haired boy from before. What a great name~. I wonder if he has a girlfriend."

"Offensive/defensive lineman, Daimon Sasami, the atomic powerhouse," the announcer continued.

Makoto nearly dropped her sunglasses. She really had figured it out, but to actually see it was still surprising. Makoto didn't know a lot about football, but she knew linemen had to be incredibly strong and block the opponent. Sasami looked tall and powerful but it was hard to see muscle definition in the school uniform.

Minako's attention immediately snapped away from drooling over Katsuro to the lineman. She thought she heard the name wrong but sure enough, a tall blond girl with an orange streak in her hair appeared on the field. Her long hair was rolled up neatly around the back of her head, no doubt the work of Akiko and her perfect fingers. Her usual white ribbon had been braided into the roll as an accent.

Sasami bounded onto the filed in full gear, carrying her helmet. She bumped elbows with Katsuro, yet it was even stranger to see Sasami smiling. They could even see it up into the nosebleed section. Daimon Sasami actually knew how to smile.

...

The game was truly one-sided. With the crafty Katsuro in command and a team of highly capable players, the Juuban Knights swiftly grabbed victory, crushing the Akasaka Sailors 120 - 0. Yet it wasn't the game on the girls' minds, it was Sasami's presence in them. She held her own against men twice her size. She was incredibly strong, and Makoto was quite certain she wouldn't hold her own in a face off with Sasami.

"That was... impressive," Makoto nodded.

"Do you think we should tell the others about Daimon Sasami?" Minako asked, unsure if this was a super secret or not. It wasn't as though the roster were secret. Truthfully the only one who would be interested would be Ami, though would that sort of secret change her outlook on her so-called rival? Football wasn't usually equated with academics, even if that Katsuro was a strategic genius. What would she think of Sasami if she found out that her rival was playing sports instead of studying every waking hour?

"It's probably best we keep it to ourselves," Makoto nodded again.

Minako quickly nodded in agreement. She still wasn't entirely certain she believed what she'd seen that entire game.

"Keep what to yourselves?"

Makoto and Minako nearly jumped out of their own skin, turning to find the rather eerie Kasumi behind them. She offered both a smile, though a rather haunting one. Strangely she was carrying a long black laced cloak and some rather suspicious-looking black books.

"Ka-kasumi-chan!" Minako stammered. "When did you get here?" Every time she'd encounter Kasumi, the girl seemed to get weirder and weirder. Who carried around a lace cloak anyway?

"Just now, I'd say," Kasumi replied as if nothing were unusual. "What _are_ you two doing?"

How could they explain that they'd been to the football game to spy on Sasami? If word got out about that, Sasami would probably pound them into the ground and use them as a kicking tee.

"We're going to Fruits Parlor Crown!" Makoto quickly replied with a nod. It was a common hang out for the group, so the answer was completely plausible.

"We are?" Minako blinked.

Makoto prodded Minako in the ribs. "We are! Want to come with us?"

Kasumi nodded. "That sounds like a good plan, I'd say." Those two sure were strange, but was she really one to speak? She tucked her cloak into her bag, along with the books, and followed them, happy to spend some time with new friends.

…**.**

**Author's notes**

The quarterback is named Takahashi 高橋 Katsuro 勝郎. His family name is very common. His first name means victorious son.

Now before you say, Sammy, girls can't be lineman, I'll tell you they can. Back in high school, there was a lineman chick on my high school team (there were also boy cheerleaders). My school had no policy barring chicks from the team. In fact, there were several chicks on the football team.


	19. The fruits parlor encounter

Makoto and Minako, with Kasumi in tow, entered the parlor, surprised to find the other civilian senshi already parked at the usual booth in the back. The group was growing larger by the day. Juri had already joined them, and they chattered on about boys and school while Ami continued to have her nose in a book. Despite Sasami's harsh words, Ami pushed through another book finding it completely necessary to study and do nothing else, if possible. Tuesday wasn't too far away, and she had to be ready. She would not be outdone!

Makoto, Minako, and Kasumi squished into the parlor with the other girls, ordering some parfaits.

Juri chewed on her parfait spoon for a moment, debating on getting another one, when she noticed how oddly Minako and Makoto were sitting. The two had squished together, their hands nervously shoved into their pockets. "What's with you two?" Juri frowned.

"N-nothing!" Minako replied quickly and nervously. "Nothing at all!"

Makoto shook her head. "Nope, nothing at all."

Juri shrugged, letting it go while Rei continued to eye them suspiciously. They were definitely up to something, though Rei figured Minako to be the instigator in this case.

Minako cracked quickly under the weight of Rei's sharp stare. "Okay, okay, okay, we found out a big secret!"

"Mina~~~" Makoto fussed.

"Daimon Sasami," Minako continued, "can actually smile!"

Juri raised an eyebrow. "_That_'s a big secret?"

"Look," Minako continued, leaning on the table like she was whispering a big secret even though she was talking loudly. "she-" She cut herself off quickly when she noticed the football team entering the parlor. They'd shed their gear, wearing their track pants and dark blue t-shirts with the team logo on it. Their shirts had their names and numbers screenprinted on the back. Among them was Sasami, wearing her team shirt. Akiko had tagged along, still wearing her school uniform.

"The Daimon twins?" Juri said surprised. She hadn't expected to see either of them outside school, much less with a sports team. She noticed that Sasami was wearing a jersey along with the rest of the team. "She plays football?"

_So these were the Daimon twins_, Rei noted. It was easy to pick the two out as they were the only girls in the group. Their auras gave them away, as well, as they were incredibly strong and bright. Sasami's was purple and Akiko's was pink. Unusual colors, but incredibly strong and pure. The auras looked familiar but Rei couldn't quite put a finger on why.

Ami looked up from her book in time to meet Sasami's gaze as she turned over her shoulder glance at the party of girls in the corner. Almost as if she had rival sense, Sasami silently challenged Ami once again as they stared at one another in silent debate.

"I will not be outdone, Daimon Sasami!" Ami shouted suddenly as she shot up from her chair. She would especially not be outdone by a football player. Was the test result a fluke or was Sasami truly that smart? Did she even study?

"Ha!" Sasami exclaimed. "You wouldn't be a worthy rival otherwise, Mizuno Ami." She offered the other a slightly devious smirk, an expression which nearly shocked the rest of the table. She turned back to the team, still smiling from the victory of the team. They were celebrating a victory, and Sasami was thriving in it.

Minako wasn't entirely paying attention to anyone else but Katsuro, the quarterback, as she practically drooled into her parfait glass.

.

Katsuro gave Sasami a hearty pat on the back. "Friends of yours?"

"Not really," Sasami replied coldly. "But that Mizuno Ami, she's a worthy academic rival." Sasami didn't have any intention of making friends outside the team. Making friends wasn't really her forte. She'd leave that to Akiko, who seemed to flood herself with friends.

.

Minako sighed. "Do you think Takahashi-senpai has a girlfriend?"

Makoto sighed too. "You're _still_going on about that?" She didn't expect anything less from the boy-crazy Minako. It had to be the Venusian link somehow.

"She is persistent, I'd say," Kasumi nodded. She was quickly learning that this group of civilian senshi was just a bunch of ordinary teens just like her.

"Of course I'm persistent!" Minako replied excitedly. "I'm the goddess of love, and I don't quit! He'll be my first boyfriend!"

"_First_? What number is she up to?" Rei frowned, stirring her fruit tea with a spoon.

"205, that I know of," Ami chimed in, not even bothering to look up from her book. She'd shifted to a new book at some point, this one was an exam review book geared specifically for math.

"T-two _hundred_ five?" Juri nearly choked on her parfait. "Th-that's quite a few there." She knew Minako was a little boy crazy but this seemed a bit much.

"She had a head start during her Sailor V days," Ami nodded. She was keeping count.

"Artemis ratted me out, didn't he?" Minako frowned. "That stupid cat." Artemis seemed to revel in the number of failed relationships she'd had. Despite being a goddess of love, she was doomed to repeated failed relationships. Even Adonis had told her so, something she'd kept to herself for years. That didn't mean she wouldn't try to have a solid relationship regardless.

That Takahashi Katsuro was pretty, strong, and no doubt intelligent, standing strong as the command tower for the team. He definitely seemed like a step above her usual pickings, and certainly a target for the goddess of love. Maybe she'd charm Sasami into introducing her.

No wait, that's a terrible idea. That would never happen. She'd find another way.

.

Across the parlor sat a blue-haired woman with a blond guy. They had only ordered two cups of tea, opposite of the usual fruit parfaits everyone loved at the parlor.

"That green-haired girl one is one of them," the man stated, indicating her out despite his back being turned to the group of civilian senshi.

"And you want me to take her out?" The blue-haired woman looked thoroughly unimpressed with him. She took a sip of tea, still staring at the group surrounding the green-haired girl.

"Not with the others that seem to pop up," he frowned sharply. "They're like flies to a carcass. Instead, I plan on taking out one unawoken source, but there's another. The blond at the other table, the one with the orange streak in her hair."

The woman glanced over at the football team celebrating their recent victory. "She's a potential?"

The man nodded. "Her signature matches the others. If we team up, we'll knock them down two senshi before they know what hit them."

The woman smirked. He was smarter than she'd expected, offering a very interesting plan of action. With a victory, surely the master would reward them both. "You have a deal, Doxite."


	20. The revelation between rivals

The weekend rolled by, and Tuesday arrived. The Shadow Galaxy had been strangely quiet, leaving the senshi to continue on with their usual business.

Today were the practice university entrance exams. Ami had been furiously studying, taking practice exams in the back of books in preparation. Her usual methods took over, and she simply disappeared all of Sunday and even after school Monday. Only one habit had changed, however. She actually slept Monday night.

Sasami's words had struck her hard. Sasami enjoyed her hobbies. She played football and celebrated victories with a team. Ami wasn't entirely sure Sasami actually studied, but given her test scores, she was either a natural genius or one who simply studied in whatever free time she had. Either way, the soldier of knowledge and wisdom would not be outdone!

The practice test was right after school on a weekday. That was the usual time for cram school, but since it was official, Ami wasn't one to pass up the opportunity for more practice and to outdo her rival.

Ami arrived to find the classroom strangely empty. A few students, mostly from Juuban Municipal High, had arrived and sat furiously cramming the last bit of information into their minds right before the test. In the back of the room was a student from a different school with messy green hair and large square-framed glasses. He was the legendary Mercurius, though Ami knew nothing of what he truly looked like.

Sasami had already taken a seat next to the window, reading some novel in English. Ami settled in across the room near the doorway, cracking open a math book. She only read a few formulas before the proctor came in.

The proctor had short medium blue hair, wore a gray suit jacket with a matching pencil skirt and knee-high black boots and looked like she hadn't slept in days. "My name is Waniko, and I'll be your proctor for this evening." Her voice was calm and smooth with a hint of fatigue.

It was an odd name as it meant 'crocodile girl', Ami noted, but lately she'd been hearing a lot of strange names pop up. She tucked her book back into her bag and accepted the test as Waniko passed them back.

Sasami paused, studying Waniko. There was something about her that seemed off. Yet as soon as the clock started, she shrugged it off and began to answer questions. They weren't hard at all nor very time consuming, and she had no trouble answering them. She glanced over at Ami who was furiously writing up a storm.

Ami could feel herself getting sleepy. She couldn't understand why. She'd gotten a full night's sleep so she'd be at peak shape to square off against Sasami. Putting a hand on her forehead, she leaned against the desk to stabilize herself then noticed something odd. The floor was blue. It wasn't blue before. Smoke?

She glanced behind her to see the other students had passed out on their desks. This smelled of an enemy attack. Quickly pulling a handkerchief from her bag, she cupped it over her mouth and nose and leaned over on her desk, pretending to have fallen asleep. Raising her shoulders, she covered up having the handkerchief and watched Waniko cautiously from behind her bangs.

Sweeping her arms outward, the smoke on the floor cleared, and Waniko casually strode over towards the window to where Sasami sat seemingly unconscious. "I don't see why he has so much trouble with this," Waniko frowned. She reached forward, her hand glowing with black energy.

Suddenly, Sasami sprung to life, shoving Waniko backwards as she leapt to the side, easily dodging the energy.

"Insolent creature," Waniko hissed, snapping bolts of black lightning at Sasami.

Using the desks as leverage, Sasami bounded out of the way surprisingly gracefully. Ami nearly gasped in surprise at her maneuvers, but chose to keep quiet. She'd have to help Sasami out somehow but without Waniko noticing. She reached for her Mercury Crystal.

Yet Sasami was a bit faster. "You're light years ahead of yourself if you think you can get my crystal." Since everyone else was asleep, knocked out from Waniko's surprise attack, she had no hesitation to fulfill her duty.

Sasami crossed her arms in front of her like an X, placing the arm with her golden bracelet in the front. "Purple Diamond Power!" The bracelet began to glow then turned into a large purple diamond broach. Diamonds surrounded her and she took a step forward, transforming into the mysterious Sailor Saturnalius.

Ami's eyes widened. She couldn't believe it. Saturnalius was hiding right under their noses.

"Atomic Eclipse," Waniko was more than thrilled to find Saturnalius was her opponent. "You'll find I'm not so easy to take down."

"Heh," Saturnalius smirked. "You save me the need for an introduction. Let's get to business, shall we?"

Waniko smirked as well, firing off a bolt of black lightning, aiming for Saturnalius, who had moved to a defensive position. She was a lineman with plenty of experience defending and then shifting suddenly to attack with explosive power. As Saturnalius, she attacked with literal explosions.

The lightning bolt suddenly shifted its course, heading directly for one of the sleeping students. Saturnalius quickly reacted, shifting her weight and dashing to block the lightning with her own body to protect the boy.

_I don't care if she knows who I am. I can't just stand by and watch. She needs my help._ Ami suddenly shot up from her seat, fully awake. "Mercury Crystal Power, Make up!" Water surrounded her and she transformed into Eternal Sailor Mercury.

"No one is allowed to beat my rival except me!" Mercury declared. "Soldier of wisdom and knowledge, I am Sailor Mercury!"

"Just great," Waniko frowned. It was just as Doxite had said. They were like roaches. Where there was one, another appeared. The blond had told her how Saturnalius and Neptunusia had separated themselves from the rest of the senshi, yet here was Mercury, coming to her aid. Perhaps just an unfortunate twist, completely unplanned and merely coincidence. Whatever the case, the appearance of one Lunar senshi wouldn't disrupt her plans. "Get lost, Mercury," she hissed. "This is between me and Satsu."

Saturnalius snapped quickly at the name. "The hell did you just call me?!"

Waniko smirked. It was her. It really was. What a twist of fate.


	21. She'd easily destroy the entire block!

"Satsu?" Mercury blinked at the name confused, but it certainly meant something to Saturnalius as the senshi had completely snapped.

She narrowed her eyes at Waniko. "I knew I recognized you, Crocoite!" Saturnalius hissed, steaming. Her arm was badly wounded from the attack defending one of the students from Crocoite's attack, but that didn't truly matter anymore.

Saturnalius was plagued, maybe even cursed, with information no one else had. She remembered the past in detail. She remembered the fall of the kingdoms of the Eclipse Guardians, the way they were destroyed from the inside out, the way the Shadow Galaxy had simply decimated them one by one in the most painful manner possible. For Saturnalius, Crocoite was personally responsible for destroying Satsu, Saturnalius's past self.

"We sure had a lot of fun in the past, didn't we, Satsu," Crocoite smirked. "I'll simply have to kill you again."

"Like hell you will!" Saturnalius seethed. Crossing her arms in front of her, one hand reaching across to her opposing shoulder, the other to the opposing hip, she began gathering an immense amount of power, diamonds gathering at both hands before she shifted her stance to a more open one. Drawing one hand back as she pitched a few explosive diamonds at Crocoite. "Purple Diamond Crash!" They missed, impacting with the floor, blowing out part of the nearby window and destroying whatever stood in their way. One managed to hit Crocoite, nearly destroying her arm on impact.

Even across the room, Mercury could feel the amount of power she was generating. With a twist of her earring, she brought up her visor to analyze her power. The readings were off the chart and only rising to even more dangerous levels. An attack with that force behind it could easily level the entire block.

Thinking quickly, Mercury leapt forward, taking Saturnalius's rear arm into her own, hugging it tightly. Saturnalius was much stronger than her, but at least she could deter the attack. "Saturnalius, please stop!"

"The hell do you think you're doing?!" Saturnalius hissed. "Let go. Now."

Mercury shook her head. "I can't let you do this. With the power levels you have now, You'll take down this entire building, maybe even this entire block. There are innocent lives here! As senshi, it's our duty to protect them!"

Duty. She was right of course. Saturnalius paused for a moment, letting her head cool down. "Dammit." She'd let her own anger get in the way, an anger about the past, the pain that plagued her mind every time she transformed into Saturnalius. The only way to be rid of it was to fulfill her duties, she thought, to destroy the Shadow Galaxy and prevent them from summoning Chaos to this world. It was the only logical reasoning.

Saturnalius looked back up only to see Crocoite had fled. "Damn, she's gone." She shook Mercury off her arm.

"I don't know what happened, but I can see that the Shadow Galaxy has clearly hurt you," Mercury spoke up. "But you don't have to do this alone. Please, let us fight with you."

Saturnalius gave Mercury a rather flat, unimpressed expression. "It's not my duty to make friends."

Mercury poked Saturnalius in the shoulder, frustrated. "As a strategist, surely you can see that joining us would really help stop the Shadow Galaxy! You have knowledge we don't! It could easily turn the tides to our favor!"

Saturnalius could easily see her point. "Heh, you truly are my rival," she noted, "but understand this. I can't talk about what I know yet." She turned to pick up her bag. As she began to walk out the door, she returned to her civilian form and simply left Mercury dumbfounded.

...

"Wait wait wait, you're saying, you know who Saturnalius really is?" Minako asked, dumbfounded. "Who is it? Who?"

Ami shook her head. "I think it's best not to say yet. I think she wants to be left alone for a while longer. The Shadow Galaxy did something horrible to her and to someone named Satsu. I offered our help but she quickly refused it."

Usagi frowned sympathetically. "I wish she would become our friend. Then she wouldn't have to suffer alone. We could help her." By the way Ami described it, Saturnalius was carrying a heavy weight and was seriously at risk for an attack. Crocoite had specifically called Saturnalius out, threatening to kill her.

"Everyone, I have an idea," Usagi spoke up after a moment of contemplation.

Rei raised an eyebrow. It wasn't like Usagi to come up with ideas, but she had an understanding of people and friendship stronger than anyone else in the group.

"I want to reach out to her," Usagi continued. "Ami-chan, if you can talk her into it, we can all meet as senshi. That way she doesn't have to reveal her identity, and we can all talk as friends and allies. Maybe we can learn how they hurt her and how we can help. Right, everyone?"

The rest of the table met her question and suggestion with a nod of approval.

"Any time, whenever she's ready, we'll be there to meet her."

...

Meanwhile in Shinjuku, Crocoite had holed herself away in her personal corner of the building. Her arm had sustained an extremely fierce attack, one which she wasn't entirely sure she could recover from.

"That looks bad," Doxite frowned.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," Crocoite shot back, wrapping the wound up with some gauze. "That power source you sent me after turned out to be Sailor Saturnalius. An interesting twist, given how I destroyed her in the past."

Doxite didn't have much memory of the past, if any. Yet the lack of memories didn't bother him remotely. He had a job to do and would carry it out without question.

"I may have lost function of this arm," Crocoite smirked. "But she'll lose her life. I'll see to it personally."


	22. Perhaps it's time to break a few rules

_"Sailor Moon!" she shouted, reaching forward. "The light in the darkness!" Her fingers were curled as if holding something tightly. Yet nothing appeared in her hand. "Take this and stop the darkness!"_

_Sailor Moon reached for the gloved hand, grabbing her to prevent her from falling away into the darkness. Yet once again, the hand slipped out of reach and Sailor Moon had lost her to the dark abyss._

"Usako"

Usagi snapped awake, startled. She looked over to see Mamoru's worry-stricken face.

"Usako, you were having a nightmare," he said.

She buried her face in his shoulder, pain striking her heart once again. "It's that dream, the one that keeps repeating, but there was more this time. She was trying to help me."

"She must be an ally," Mamoru nodded. He had an innate ability to sense dreams, to feel them and even read them sometimes. He drew her into his arms. "The dream, it will hopefully clear up soon, and you'll be able to protect her. You're strong like that. I'll lend you my power. We can do it together."

He was right, of course. Usagi wanted nothing more than use her powers to protect her friends and save everyone. She'd combined her power with Mamoru before to help fulfill this desire.

This dream. It had to mean something. Just who was that who kept reaching out to her?

...

Several days had passed since the attack at the practice exam. Another morning began with Ami and Sasami staring down one another in the hallway. This staring contest was different this time. While they hadn't settled their academic rivalry, they now held one another's secret identities. Ami wanted to reach out to her, to invite her to speak with them as per Usagi's suggestion, and Sasami continued to pull away.

For the past few days, the two would simply stare, speaking a silent conversation, then break away, heading in different directions. Today, however, Sasami spoke first. "After school at the football field. Come alone."

Ami simply nodded, and the two parted ways without another word.

"Those two have been acting really strangely, I'd say," Kasumi nodded.

Makoto nodded in agreement with her counterpart. "Weird even for those two."

...

Sasami had been on the field for some time before Ami showed up. Sasami was alone with a training dummy, dressed fully in her football gear, sans the helmet which remained on the bench. She opted to keep her hair up in a ponytail then wrapped it into a bun, using her usual long hair ties to keep the bun in place.

Sasami twisted her stance, bringing one shoulder forward, forming a triangle with her arm and then sharply attacking the training dummy, sending it backwards several yards. It was a maneuver strictly hers, something she'd developed to multiply her power on the field. It required timing, precision, and skill. She paused. "So you've come."

"I'm glad you finally accepted my offer," Ami nodded, taking a seat on the bench with Sasami's helmet. During their silent exchange, Ami requested to speak about being senshi several times to Sasami, each time rejected before they parted ways. Ami was more than happy that Sasami had finally accepted her offer.

"Let me start by saying your civilian identity is still a secret to the others," Ami added reassuringly.

"Really. I thought that'd be something you'd quickly share." Sasami approached the training dummy, grabbing it by the handle on top of the pad, and pulled it back into place.

Ami shook her head. "It didn't felt right. And besides, I respect you as a rival. I couldn't do that to you."

Sasami paused in the middle of her preparation for another shoulder-based attack on the dummy. Sasami had put a lot of effort into avoiding the lunar senshi so she could properly focus her duty to protect them from a threat. Yet every battle, she seemed to encounter them and every time they reached out to her to be her friend. They all approached their duties so differently.

Mercury's words at the exam still sat with her, prodding the back of her mind on a rather frequent basis. As a strategist, Sasami could understand why Mercury had reached out to her from a logical standpoint. The two were the control towers, the informants of their respective teams. Yet Sasami had distanced herself even from her own team. Perhaps a strategic move was necessary right now. Perhaps it was time to break a few rules.

"Sailor Moon had a proposition," Ami continued. "She suggested we meet in the park as senshi to talk all together, both lunar and eclipse senshi. Even if it's just to talk, but she really wants to reach out to you, to be your friend."

"My friend, huh," Sasami frowned. She was well aware that Sailor Moon was Princess Serenity. Sasami had a strong desire to protect her at all costs. The idea of befriending the princess was utterly foreign and probably taboo.

"That's just how she is," Ami replied. "She doesn't like to see people alone or suffer."

Sasami knew little of what Serenity was truly like, only what her past self had heard, but the more she heard of Sailor Moon, the more the two seemed different. She dropped all formalities and reached out to people's hearts. While she'd only met her once, it was pretty obvious. The other eclipse had quickly flocked to her, becoming friends. It was something unexpected.

Perhaps the past didn't have to reflect the present. Perhaps a shadow could really come out into the light.

"Name a time and a place."

"Tomorrow evening in the park," Ami replied. "If you want, Neptunusia can come too."


	23. That night in the park

_"Something is truly going on in Minato-ku, isn't that right, Hamahara-kun?"_

_The green-haired anchor with two last names, Hayashibara Hamahara, nodded in agreement. "That's correct. This is the third mysterious death in the past two weeks. Aizawa Fumiko of the Azabu-Juuban district was found dead this morning at her desk. Once again, police have called off the investigation after determining no foul play was involved."_

_"Perhaps it's not the cafeteria food but an epidemic of too much studying," the head anchor nodded._

"I bet Sailor Moon will be on the case!" Shingo pointed out excitedly as he grabbed some breakfast before school.

"I wouldn't doubt she's already on it," Kenji-papa agreed. He hadn't seen anything reported in the newspaper, but that didn't necessarily mean Sailor Moon and her friends hadn't looked into it. The deaths were mysterious and suspicious.

Usagi peered around the corner, interested to hear them speak about her alter-ego. If only they knew their hero was currently plagued by nightmares and powerless. What would they think of her then? She couldn't rely on her senshi forever.

No, they were going to become more powerful. Hopefully she could convince Saturnalius and Neptunusia to join them, to become their allies and friends.

...

The sun was setting, the air grew cool and crisp. The street lamps flickered on, lighting the sidewalk in the park.

Above the sidewalk, Saturnalius leaned against the trunk of the tree, propping her feet up on the branch. She was barely visible to anyone nearby, though the tails of her hair ribbon peeked out from below the leaves. Neptunusia sat properly on a nearby branch, propping herself up in the tree.

"I must ask, why are we sitting in a tree?" Neptunusia inquired.

"Watching, waiting," Saturnalius replied, folding her hands behind her head. Her orange eyes fixed on the meeting location. It was still empty but the senshi still had time to arrive. Given that Mercury was punctual, she didn't expect any of them to be late.

"Are you having second thoughts about this?" Neptunusia pressed on. This was a very unusual move for her accomplice. She wasn't one to object, though, as making strong friendships was something she thoroughly enjoyed. She had memories of the past too, though not as detailed as Saturnalius had. There were images, feelings, and colors. It was surreal and hard to interpret. However, like her sister, she understood her duty and dedicated her entire power and being to it, making the two an unstoppable pair.

"No," the blond replied simply. "Yet this meeting, it's a conflict of duty and position. Are you having second thoughts? What do you truly think about it?"

Neptunusia shook her head. "Not in the least." It wasn't often that Saturnalius had asked her opinion. Neptunusia was a typical Nadeshiko, polite, honorable, and humble with a hidden blade up her sleeve. She didn't voice her opinion often, yet when she did, it was strong. "I think it would truly be good to have more friends, ones who can help us protect and ones to protect. Especially for you. You could finally let someone close, someone who understands what happened in the past. I think you should make friends with them."

...

Across the park stood the rest of the group. It was an odd sight, seeing a full senshi team suddenly appear at the park. Even Tuxedo Kamen had joined them. With the nightmares and worries Usagi had the past few weeks, he wanted to be with her. He often felt like he got in the way of the senshi, but this was talk, not battle.

"Do you really think they'll show?" Sun broke the silence. "Saturnalius and Neptunusia don't always seem like the friendliest people."

"I think there's something more to it," Mercury replied. "Saturnalius has repeatedly mentioned duty and honor." The mentions lie almost exclusively in their silent conversations in the hallways, though Saturnalius had mentioned it before in a previous conversation, claiming her duty was to protect, not to be friends.

Mercury was only more convinced that something lie deeper when the villain Crocoite had referred to Saturnalius as Satsu. Something happened, and it was definitely bad. Mercury wasn't exactly the most sympathetic of the group, but she could tell something had gone horribly wrong in the past. It hurt, and she wasn't sure why. Logically, she needed to know the reason, if for nothing else strategic purposes. But somehow her heart longed for an answer too.

Jupiter and Jupitercouri were the only two senshi who hadn't encountered the two aloof senshi. Neither was entirely sure what to make of the two, yet Jupiter seemed more willing to speak to them. It wasn't the first time senshi had been aloof and mysterious. It would only be a matter of time before they too would join the team, just as it happened with the outer senshi.

Sun was still a bit wary about meeting them. They'd been so aloof with her that it broke her heart. She wasn't certain why but she felt as if she'd lost an age-old friend each time they left. She desired to befriend them but was afraid of her heart breaking each time they rejected her. She wanted to reach out to them, but this was Sailor Moon's meeting and she'd respectfully stayed behind in her shadow.

Sailor Moon stepped out into the designated meeting point with the others in tow. Tuxedo Kamen stood by her side while the others stood slightly behind. "They're not here yet." With Mercury's adamant time keeping, they were actually early for the meeting.

"We're here," Saturnalius announced as the two leapt from the tree, landing in the grass before the group. "As requested." Neptunusia remained the edge of the clearing while Saturnalius approached.

It was the first time anyone had really seen her up close. She was the tallest of the senshi. Her features were sharp, and her body was athletic and muscular. The most unusual feature was her piercing orange eyes. She studied Sailor Moon for a moment before taking her hand. Saturnalius took to one knee, kissing Moon's hand, as was the proper greeting for any royalty of the silver moon.

"Forgive our rudeness, Princess Serenity," Saturnalius spoke up. "We are at your command, if you wish it."

…

**Author's notes**

Aizawa Fumiko is meant to be Venus's mirror. Aizawa roughly means love river.


	24. Tragedy

She was breaking so many rules just by kneeling here. It was brazen and rebellious yet she wasn't the only one who'd done it. Sun and Jupitercouri had taken their place among the soldiers of the silver moon, though there was a difference between them and her. They didn't remember anything of the past. Perhaps it worked to their advantage.

Neptunusia stood her distance, though the space between her and the rest wasn't all that great. It was hard to see Saturnalius take such a submissive stance, but they both knew their place in the matter. She wanted to shake Saturnalius and tell her things didn't have to be the same way, but she knew that wouldn't make a difference in the blond's mind. She was still stuck in the past.

"Saturnalius." Sailor Moon cupped Saturnalius's hand in both of hers before kneeling down in front of her, meeting her at the same level. "I didn't ask you here as Princess Serenity, I asked you here as a friend. I don't know what happened in the past, but this is the present, and I want you to be our friend. You don't have to fight alone."

It wasn't the first time Sailor Moon had extended a hand in friendship, nor was it the first time she'd told her she didn't have to fight alone. She'd said the same thing that first day they met when it was raining. But it was the first time Sailor Moon had made such a kind gesture. She was pretty this close, bright blue eyes that reflected the moon, elegant white wings, the golden mark of the crescent moon on her forehead. She truly was the moon princess Saturnalius longed to meet.

"I must fulfill my duty to protect you," Saturnalius responded, looking to the side, "Not be your friend. I am your guardian, not your friend." Her words were cold yet there was a hint of sadness within them.

"It doesn't have to be that way," Moon objected. "These guys, they're my guardians _and_ my friends. You can be both." She knew nothing of the Eclipse's story, just that they were destined to be their shadows. It sounded like such a lonely fate, and Moon desired to bring them back into the light.

Neptunusia continued to remain in the background, silently crying out for Saturnalius to accept that both could happen. She wanted to see her happy, to finally see Saturnalius enjoy the power she was given.

"Saturnalius," Neptunusia finally asserted.

Saturnalius turned slightly, just enough to see the pleading look drawn on her accomplice's face. Neptunusia wanted their friendship but wasn't the type to pursue it on her own. Saturnalius knew her well enough to read it in her eyes. She wasn't fond of the idea, sticking to her resolve to fulfill her duties, but she also wanted to see Neptunusia happy. There was a part of her, however, that did long for the friendship with the soldiers of the silver moon.

Saturnalius's expression softened for just a moment before panic struck her eyes. Neptunusia's eyes had gone blank, the color draining from her face quickly as her life was ripped from her. Her body went limp and she fell lifelessly to the ground. Her senshi outfit melted off like water flowing down a hillside, revealing a familiar face now lying dead on the ground.

Sailor Moon gasped in horror. "Akiko-chan!"

The galactic crystal was pink and shaped exactly like a Sailor Crystal, though it was incredibly bright. The light it cast revealed the shadow that had sneaked up behind Neptunusia was Crocoite, the blue-haired nemesis of Saturnalius.

"I do enjoy watching you suffer, Saturnalius," Crocoite smirked, her words sharp with the pure purpose of affronting the blond. Provoking her was so easy. "You'll always be doomed to suffer. That _is_ your fate, after all." As she held Neptunusia's crystal, she caused it to blacken, losing its shine and luster.

"GIVE IT BACK!" Saturnalius seethed, practically foaming at the mouth in anger.

"Oh I don't think so," Crocoite taunted, stepping on Akiko as if squishing a bug beneath her boot.

"Stand back, princess," Saturnalius quickly took to her feet, her words sharp and furious. "I will annihilate her myself!" Gathering diamonds at her hands, she began to charge up an intense amount of power in her hands and arms.

"Saturnalius, wait!" Sailor Moon shot to her feet too, hoping that they could fight together. She paused, however, when she quickly remembered that she had no means to do so.

Mercury pulled Moon back quickly. "This is the same power she had before. It's incredibly dangerous!" The readings on her visor showed her power to be strong enough to flatten a city block.

Tuxedo Kamen quickly shielded Moon and Mercury with his cape, acting as a protective barrier against whatever power Saturnalius was emitting.

Saturnalius dove forward, launching an assault of hand to hand attacks. Crocoite only had one functioning arm, yet it hardly seemed to be a disadvantage as she easily dodged the onslaught.

"You'll have to do better than that, Saturnalius," Crocoite egged her on, launching a counter attack of lightning. The attack nearly took out the strong warrior, slamming into Saturnalius's shoulder and knocking her back several feet.

Her arm was badly wounded. The lightning had given her quite a jolt, nearly knocking her unconscious by the sudden surge of power running through her body. Despite the pain shooting up her arm, Saturnalius continued to fight on. She summoned her orange bo staff to her hands, lacing it with atomic diamonds. "Saturnalius atomic-" she cut herself off suddenly when she noticed Crocoite had purposely put herself at an angle so that Akiko was lying between them. Saturnalius couldn't hit Akiko's body, else there would be nothing remaining to revive.

Mars quickly jumped forward, landing beside Akiko and quickly scooping her dead body off the ground, bringing her to safety behind Tuxedo Kamen's barrier. Jupiter and Jupitercouri both sprang forward, taking offensive stances beside Saturnalius. It was a risky maneuver, given the power that was radiating from Saturnalius's body, but the two couldn't allow her to fight alone.

"Allow us to help," Jupitercouri offered. "We'll all bring her down together, I'd say."

Jupiter nodded, agreeing. "I've seen you two do it, so let's give it a try. Let's combine our powers." Jupiter crossed her arms, summoning the lightning rod to her tiara. Jupitercouri mirrored the position, though she held her two knives to conduct electricity.

Saturnalius had been hesitant. Beside her were two mirrors, proposing to combine their powers to save Neptunusia. The light and the shadow weren't ever supposed to meet, and yet there they were, fighting together and in unison. While the two could mirror one another silently, Saturnalius couldn't hear what their silent conversation entailed. But there was one thing she could do to help them. Saturnalius placed a hand on their shoulders. Her touch would allow them to lace whatever attack they had with the power of atomic diamonds.

The two Jupiters moved in unison, mirroring one another with silent commands. They gathered lightning and fired it off, commanding, "Thunderous Brainstorm Showerdown!" The lightning surged at Crocoite. Saturnalius laced their attack with atomic magic, giving the attack a brilliant trail of purple diamonds as it flew through the air.

The impact was devastating, vaporizing Crocoite almost instantaneously as well as several trees and a bench which once stood behind her. With a sigh of relief, Saturnalius leapt forward, retrieving the stolen galactic crystal. She stared at it for a moment, horror twisting her features. "It's so tainted and dark. I... may have lost her."


	25. The truth about crystals

"I may have lost her." Saturnalius looked devastated. It was really the first time anyone had seen Saturnalius show anything other than cold or angry. She was in horrible pain, both physically and emotionally.

"What do you mean, lost her?" Mercury inquired. "You can live without a sailor crystal."

Saturnalius shook her head. "You don't know anything about the Eclipse do you?" She knelt down next to Akiko's lifeless body, propped up to a semi-sitting position in Mars's arms. "It's a curse. The sailor crystal of an eclipse - a galactic crystal - isn't just their sailor powers, it's their life. Without them, we die."

Sailor Moon gasped in horror. Right now, their classmate Akiko was dead, and her crystal had been tainted by the enemy. No, there had to be a way to bring her back. Moon took Saturnalius's hands and the crystal into her own. There had to be something she could do. She had to save Akiko.

"Let go of me! I have to try to give this back to her!" Saturnalius struggled against Moon's grip. While she could easily have knocked Moon clear across the park, there was something within her that resisted.

Moon's touch was quickly becoming warm and more reassuring. She couldn't fight but there was one thing she could do right now. She hoped and prayed that the Silver Crystal would help her purify Neptunusia's galactic crystal. She didn't want to lose her new friend. She didn't want to see Saturnalius in pain.

Saturnalius moved to object again, but quickly stopped, seeing Moon's power begin to purify the crystal. Neptunusia's crystal began to regain its color and brightness quickly, and once it was restored, Sailor Moon released her grip on it and Saturnalius's hands.

Saturnalius released the crystal, allowing it to reenter Neptunusia's heart. The color returned to her face, she began breathing once again, yet she didn't wake. She remained unconscious and in a coma-like state.

"Princess, I..." Saturnalius stammered, still staring at Akiko, still concerned, and still hurting. "I am forever indebted to you for saving her life."

"I didn't do it to make you owe me something," Moon countered. "I did it because I didn't want you to lose her. That's what friends do for each other."

"Friends," Saturnalius frowned sharply. "It's my-" She quickly cut off her own words when Moon suddenly embraced her around the shoulders, drawing her into a tight friendly hug.

"This is hardly proper protocol between princess and soldier," Saturnalius objected flatly.

"I don't care about protocol," Moon countered again. "I was once Princess Serenity, and I'll soon be Neo Queen Serenity, but right now I'm just Usagi. This is how I'm choosing to live my life, and I want to be friends with my 'soldiers'."

Saturnalius paused for a moment. Sailor business was all about duty, protection, and necessity. Friendships didn't seem necessary. After all, they'd gotten her into trouble in the past. Yet even knowing the past, Neptunusia had urged Saturnalius to become friends with the senshi, to befriend the princess even. Even Moon and Mercury had reached out to her. "If you so wish it."

"I do! I do!" Moon replied excitedly. "I really would like to be your friend."

"There is one more thing," Saturnalius added, recalling her conversation with Mercury at the test exam classroom last week. "Mercury was right. Together we will be stronger. I need to tell you what happened in the past, the true story of the Eclipse senshi. I will tell you everything I know, but first, I must get Aki home for rest."

"Bring her to the shrine," Mars offered. "She'll be safe there. The miko can protect her. It's also a safe place to talk."

Mars had a point. Saturnalius knew the risk of taking her home. In her weakened state, Akiko would be no match for any soldier the Shadow Galaxy sent to attack her. She'd end up like the girls on the news: dead as a door nail. A shrine would be a very safe place for her. "Very well," she agreed, scooping up Akiko into her arms. "Lead the way."

...

The journey to the Hikawa shrine was quick. It was nearby, and the senshi could travel faster as senshi than civilian. Mars stopped the group suddenly at the end of the woods which surrounded the shrine. "Wait, we can't go in like this. We'll have to power down." The miko seeing them was hardly a concern. It was Grampa. He'd be staring up their skirts. Most of the others understood exactly what she had been thinking.

"I don't think so," Saturnalius objected.

"Don't worry, Saturnalius," Moon comforted her anxiety. "We all know each others' identities. It's okay." She powered down, returning to Usagi in her school uniform. The others followed suit, returning to their school uniforms as well.

"I know you all," Saturnalius affirmed. "You're all Mizuno Ami's friends." That would mean they knew her too, and she only really got along with Ami and barely at that. She closed her eyes, hesitantly returning to civilian form, revealing herself to be Ami's rival, Daimon Sasami. Unlike the others, she was still in her football team shirt and black track pants.

The group was shocked, save Ami who already knew her civilian identity. Her concern for Akiko had suddenly become obvious. Saturnalius/Sasami had nearly lost her twin sister to the Shadow Galaxy's warrior.

"Come inside," Rei instructed. "I'll make some tea."

...

Sasami lay down Akiko in one of the tatami rooms in the shrine. At Rei's instruction, the miko busied themselves with creating protection spells and plastering them around the room. They didn't question Rei's request, knowing that Rei wouldn't ever make such a large request without reason. The miko had grown accustom to strange requests and events since in the past two years.

Sasami watched them for a moment before following Rei out to the main room where the group gathered. Rei set the tea down on the table. Mamoru was an unusual sight to see at the table, yet Usagi nestled up to him comfortably, as if he'd always been at their meetings.

Sasami returned to her usual stoic flat expression when she'd returned to the group. She took a seat next to Rei, tucking her feet underneath her in a proper seiza position. She paused, taking a sip of tea. The others were incredibly curious but didn't seem as uncomfortable as she'd expected. Perhaps it was because they'd seen her vulnerable, they'd seen her withdraw the wall she put up around everyone except the football team.

"The story of the Eclipse," Sasami began. "It begins back during the Silver Millennium."

…

**Author's notes**

seiza is the proper Japanese way to sit. You basically sit on your feet but you place your feet in a v-shape to keep from straining your legs. In order to properly sit in Seiza, you have to learn how to do it at a young age, else your feet will fall asleep every time you do it. In the episode about the tea ceremony in the anime, Usagi and Chibiusa attempt to sit in seiza but end up putting their feet to sleep instead.

Rei has a lot of traditional training so she seemed like the perfect candidate for sitting this way.

Also, the senshi moving faster than civilian thing is mostly theory. If you look at it, Usagi is horribly fit as Usagi, but when she's Sailor Moon, she can do all sorts of amazing feats, like jumping off buildings or jumping across building to building or that super sentai leap-running they seem to do in the anime.


	26. The origins of Eclipse

Sasami took a sip of tea while the rest of the group waited patiently. After what Ami had detailed about her and Sasami's battle at the practice exams, they knew something horrible had happened. Usagi had considered objecting, telling Sasami she didn't have to relive the past, but she also knew that knowledge would help them win this battle against the mysterious force and perhaps understand where the Eclipse really came from.

"During the Silver Millennium," Sasami began, "the power of the Silver Crystal reached even to the far ends of the galaxy. At the time I was known as Satsu. Queen Serenity brought me along with several other girls my age to the Moon Kingdom with a proposition. There were 9 of us. She told us we all had sailor crystals, and she wanted to make us her distant guardians with a catch. She would unlock our true potential but we always had to stand our post, ever vigilant, waiting for commands and potential threats.

"Of course we took the offer. We became mirrors of the Queen's court, our names even reflected it. The Solar Eclipse, Sun, became the leading eclipse, the golden sun. I became the Atomic Eclipse, Saturnalius. The catch was we could never ever leave our posts, and we would never be able to return to the Moon Kingdom."

"That sounds so lonely," Usagi frowned, snagging a snack cake off the tray Rei had brought. It did sound like something her past mother would do. Even the outer senshi were to remain at their posts. Pluto guarded the gates of time for eternity, ever alone until they befriended one another.

"Our job," Sasami continued, "was to protect the Moon Kingdom and the inner court, not make friends. Those were our orders we carried out as the Eclipse Senshi. We didn't question it, we just did it. The first few hundred years were great. It was peaceful and quiet. But there was still that longing to travel and meet the Moon Kingdom's court, the people we reflected. I befriended my neighboring guardians, Sun and Neptunusia. We became a tightly knit trio. We even were overjoyed by the birth of the silver moon's princess. Pity we wouldn't ever meet."

Usagi didn't know as much about her past self as she wished to know. A hologram of her mother had told her about the downfall of the kingdom and that the people there once knew peace and longevity. She remembered mostly tragedy and fragments of the peace the kingdom once knew.

Juri interrupted this time. "No wonder you were so angry at me for not remembering, but every time you and Nep- Akiko-san left I felt like I was losing dear friends. I knew there had to be a reason, even if I couldn't remember. I'm so sorry. I feel terrible now."

"Don't," Sasami said sharply. "I don't blame you." It felt strange to say that, but Sun truly was one of the few friends Saturnalius ever had, even if she couldn't remember. "But it was shortly after her birth that things started going sour," she continued. "A queen from another galaxy approached us, requesting passage to the Moon Kingdom. She called herself Galaxia. She wanted to go to the Moon Kingdom for the celebration of the Princess's birthday. Sun quickly refused and turned her back. She was bad news, and we all knew it."

"Galaxia?" Usagi stared, slightly horrified at the name. Had Sailor Galaxia truly been around that long? Was she evil then too? Had Chaos already infected her? "Did she wear a lot of gold?"

Sasami shook her head. "No, she wore a lot of red and had long blue hair. She called herself queen of the Shadow Galaxy, a distant place where the entire galaxy lie in constant and eternal darkness."

"That sounds like a pleasant place, I'd say," Kasumi commented, taking a sip of tea. It sounded like some of the poetry she wrote. Her words seemed more impressed than sarcastic.

"I don't know much more about the place," Sasami said. "Yet sometime later, probably a few years, maybe a hundred - it was impossible to tell at that point - something started happening. We lost all contact with Sun. Next thing we knew, the planet and guardian had fallen to a mysterious force that no one saw coming."

This was sounding familiar, much like the Dark Kingdom's sudden attack on the Moon Kingdom. Did Chaos have a hand in this too?

"I requested we all meet and investigate but it was too late for that. Neptunusia had silently fallen while we were trying to figure out what to do. Someone was killing off the guardians quickly and swiftly, leaving no trace." Sasami frowned sharply.

"The queen had to know. I returned home to send out a distress call to the Moon Kingdom, yet even I was too late. While I was away, the unknown force had infected my planet, passing on some sort of mind-corrupting disease throughout the entire population in a matter of days. As a guardian, I was immune to the disease, but I wasn't immune to its effects. My own people overthrew me in a massive coup d'etat, abducting me before I was able to even call for help."

"Your own people?" Mamoru suddenly chimed in. "That sounds a lot like what happened to the Earth Kingdom when Metallia infected their minds."

Sasami paused. The Earth Kingdom? Did Galaxia really get that far? She didn't recognize the name Metallia but there definitely was some sort of connection. She continued the story anyway.

"That's when they showed up, the Shadow Galaxy. That Crocoite was heading the force, tormenting me as she forced me to watch my people die slowly and painfully. I escaped once, taking on my sailor form, fighting her with everything I had, but she countered by commanding my people to attack me once again. I couldn't fight them. She'd won. She told me that I would always suffer, in this life and the next.

"It was then I learned about the curse of being an Eclipse. Our sailor crystals had become our life force. As Crocoite was extracting mine, I made a wish on it. I wished to seal away the Shadow Galaxy so they wouldn't reach the Moon Kingdom. I wished that I would be reborn to continue to serve and protect the silver moon, that I would never forget what had happened. I told Aki what I remembered. She couldn't remember what had happened to Neptunusia but she'd made the same wish on her crystal."

"This queen Galaxia sounds strangely like Queen Beryl and Metallia," Ami alluded. "Metallia had infected the Earth Kingdom and eventually caused the downfall of the Moon Kingdom. Sailor Saturn destroyed what was left of the Silver Millennium at the request of Queen Serenity and effectively causing all of us to be reborn."

Sasami frowned sharply into her tea. "We failed as your deep space guardians. Nothing was ever supposed to reach you." It was the source of her anger. She felt the pain of defeat, the feeling of failure, and it pissed her off, bringing out the atomic side of her personality. To know the Moon Kingdom had ended in destruction hurt deeply.

Usagi reached across the table, taking Sasami's hand into her own. "It's not your fault," she reassured her. "Chaos was at fault."

"Chaos was a being that was trying to become one with everything in the cosmos," Ami explained, "but to do so, it nearly destroyed everything. Queen Serenity sent us here to prevent Chaos from awakening. Chaos has manifested itself 5 times to us, each time meeting with defeat. It is possible that this Galaxia was infected with it before and is trying to revive it again."

"That takes a lot of energy to do," Minako nodded. "Maybe they're trying to use galactic crystals to do it. That must be why the Shadow Galaxy is extracts crystals. We need to stop them before anyone else dies."


	27. Her second team

The school day needed to be over already. For once in her lifetime, Sasami wanted the class to end. She was distracted, the words of the other senshi still running through her mind. Chaos. She knew the legends about Chaos and the Cosmos. They were antitheses, pure opposites of one another. Usagi detailed what she'd seen in the Galaxy Cauldron, how she made the choice to return back to being Usagi, to stay with her friends.

But there was something else that interested Sasami. The lunar senshi told the Eclipse about the future Crystal Tokyo. It was destined to happen soon, a new Silver Millennium. If Chaos was revived again, it would probably attempt to destroy this future they all desired. With a future like that, a future queen like Usagi, perhaps she could continue to serve the silver moon, perhaps even serve with them.

"You look distracted, I'd say." Kasumi had taken Akiko's usual spot, observing Sasami and her thoughtfulness. "Bell rang a few minutes ago. You aren't possessed, are you?"

Sasami frowned sharply. "No, I'm fine." She stood up only to get clobbered by a chipper blue-haired girl. "Tsu..."

"You look down, Sasa-chan~ " Hana Tsubaki was one of the few friends Sasami seemed to have. She was incredibly tall with soft features and a long body. She pulled her long two-tone blue hair back into a low ponytail.

Tsubaki didn't always appear along side the Daimon twins but she'd grown up with them. They had been friends since elementary, more Tsubaki with Akiko than with Sasami. Regardless, Tsubaki still hung on Sasami like a child.

Sasami narrowed her eyes at Tsubaki. "I'm not down. I'm fine." Okay that was a lie. "I'm worried about Akiko, that's all. Now leave me alone. I'm going to prepare for a game."

"Mind if I come along?" Kasumi requested, much to the surprise of Sasami. Kasumi had never shown interest in any sports, simply receding into her occult world and creepy occult club after school.

"You can come sit with me, Kasu-chan~ " Tsubaki offered. "We'll cheer on Sasa-chan and her team~"

...

Football was something Sasami used to drown out everything else. It was something where she didn't have to be perfect or ladylike or any of that crap. All that mattered out on the field was teamwork, strength, and dependability. She could push all her aggression and frustrations out on someone and it was a completely legal move.

The team was already out on the field, reviewing strategy. They had already studied maneuvers and countermeasures to their opponents, so they chose to review quickly and break, giving the opposition a false sense of confidence.

Sasami glanced up into the crowd to see Tsubaki waving wildly like usual. It was still hard to think that Akiko wasn't there with her but instead still unconscious and guarded at the Hikawa shrine. Kasumi had taken Akiko's place, though sitting behind them was surprisingly nearly the entire senshi. Usagi sat in the middle, clinging to Mamoru. She noticed Sasami looking in their direction and gave a friendly wave and shouted something. Minako had busied herself cheering at the team as well, along with Juri who was equally excited. Only Rei hadn't shown up, as she was busy with temple duties and caring for Akiko.

"I thought they weren't your friends," Katsuro placed a hand on Sasami's shoulder, recognizing the group from the cafe.

"They... weren't." A few days ago, that was true, but now suddenly, Sasami was second guessing it. They all came. Why did they all come? All she'd done was push them away. They barely knew her, but they all came.

Katsuro gave his teammate a hearty pat on the back. "Looks like a good group of friends. Let's give them the best show they've ever seen." He offered her a smile then turned back to the team. "Okay, everyone! It's time to squish some Azabu Spiders!"

...

The game was short. The Juuban Knights crushed another local team with their overwhelming strength and devastating strategy. Usagi and the others cheered on, despite not knowing a thing about football. Ami and Mamoru attempted to explain the rules, but the others didn't always seem to get it. Juri and Makoto seemed to understand them more than the others, but it didn't seem to matter. As long as Juuban was scoring points, it was a good thing.

As the team left for the victory party, Sasami glanced back up in the stands to see the civilian senshi were cheering, as if sharing in the thrill of victory. Maybe, just maybe, Akiko was right. They were her team, a second team, one where she could help win the fight against the Shadow Galaxy, against Chaos, and help preserve a beautiful future.

...

The team was still riding on the thrill of victory the next day. Sasami bumped elbows with teammates in the hallway as she weaved through the sea of people to head off for practice. She was certain she was being tailed but each time she turned, no one looked out of the ordinary. Chances were it was Kasumi and her friends being creepy in the hallway. She shrugged it off and headed down to the field.

Yet she couldn't shake the feeling of being followed. Sasami glanced at the stands to see a red bow peering out from over the wall. With a sigh, Sasami jogged over to the stands, leaning on the wall, standing very tall in her full gear. "What are you doing, Venusian?"

Minako peered up at Sasami, giving her a sheepish grin. "Would you believe boy hunting?"

Sasami scoffed and turned back to practice.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Minako shot up from behind the wall and grabbed at the back of Sasami's jersey.

She stopped. "What is it?" If she had kept going, she probably would've dragged Minako out of the stadium and onto the field. Minako had quite the deathgrip on her jersey.

"You have to introduce me to that quarterback, Takahashi Katsuro-senpai~" Minako demanded. She was very set on the idea of making a quarterback into her boyfriend.

Sasami frowned, rejecting her immediately. "Forget it." She attempted to pry Minako's hand off her jersey without breaking her fingers in the process. Suddenly pausing in her prying attempts, Sasami turned sharply to see a new player approach the field in full gear. He was tall and slender with long brown hair trailing down the back of his jersey. Tipping down her yellow-tinted glasses to get a better look at him, Sasami frowned even more sharply, narrowing her eyes as she watched him.

"Who's that?" Minako pondered aloud, pulling herself out of the stadium seats and on to her feet before releasing her grip on Sasami's jersey. "He's really cute too."

"Everyone," Katsuro waived the team to come together. "This is Hayashibara Naogawa. He transferred in to Juuban High recently and will be joining our team as a tight end."

The team offered Naogawa a welcoming elbow bump, though when he bumped elbows with Sasami, she paused. When their elbows touched, she felt a cold darkness from him. She narrowed her eyes at him, while he simply returned with a slight smirk.

"Something the matter, Daimon-kun?" Katsuro asked.

She shook her head in reply. "No, nothing." It was a lie. Something was wrong. Very wrong.

…

**Author's notes:**

Hayashibara (woods-field) 林原 Naogawa 尚川 (esteemed river). The name is completely ridiculous. Nao 尚 is a perfectly normal unisex name. kawa/gawa 川 is a kanji used in last names, not first names.

Hana 花 Tsubaki 椿. It literally means camellia flowers.

Also, I've updated my profile to include links to artworks, so you can see how I imagine these new people.


	28. Strategists

_"Sailor Moon!" she shouted, reaching forward. "The light in the darkness!" Her fingers were curled as if holding something tightly. Yet nothing appeared in her hand. "Take this and stop the darkness!"_

"Usagi! Get up!"

Usagi rolled over, suddenly awake after her mom had screamed at her, pounding furiously at her bedroom door. The dream had been cut short again, though this time before she'd lost the person trying to reach her. How many times did she need to have this dream before it became clear? Who was this girl and what was she trying to give her?

"Usagi!" Ikuko-mama kicked open the door, carrying a ladle and a bento lunch box. "Get up and get to school right now!" she shouted, brandishing the bento as if it were some sort of threat. "You'll be late again! Don't make me pull you out of bed forcibly!"

School, right. It was a perfect distraction from this dream. Usagi sprang surprisingly quickly out of bed, rummaging through her drawers for a clean pair of socks. "Okay! Okay! I'll be ready in a moment!"

...

Across the city, in Shinjuku-ku, the Department Store building towered above the dark city. The queen sat on her makeshift throne covered in bedding and other fancy clothes from the lower floors of the building. Doxite and Kyanite, a younger general with short red hair, had been called before the queen, and both knelt before her.

"Status report," the queen demanded, tapping her fingers on the arm of her makeshift throne. The headquarters was hardly fitting for someone of her stature, an elegant, beautiful, rather insidious galactic queen. She was furious after losing another of her generals to that senshi. Saturnalius was a threat and she needed to be dealt with quickly before she offed another of her minions.

"We've been working with the other generals, infiltrating the hot-spots where the senshi tend to appear," Doxite added. "Currently two are infiltrated. Crocoite had a hand in it and discovered the identities of their strategists. I have been working to disrupt the two. While Crocoite couldn't get Neptunusia's crystal, she tainted it. Neptunusia won't live much longer."

It was the last thing Crocoite had managed to do before Saturnalius took her down with an explosion that flattened half the park.

"With three dead and four awoken, there are two Eclipse who have yet to appear, my queen," Doxite continued. There were supposed to be nine, but nine wouldn't awaken if he could do anything about it.

"Kill them," the queen ordered, frowning sharply. While Doxite was certainly not the most experienced general, he certainly was giving the senshi a run for their money. He'd managed to outlive the previous generals and lay out and execute a highly complicated plan of action. The queen was beginning to expect high results from the blond general. "Do not fail me."

...

"So that's her. You're absolutely certain?"

The blond general nodded. "That is Saturnalius, the strategist of the Eclipse." He and his accomplice perched high in an old tree above the park. They watched as Sasami, in her team t-shirt and black track pants, simply strode down the walkway. She hardly seemed happy, especially with a particular blond with a red bow in her hair bothering her about introducing her to someone named Katsuro.

"I want to see her suffer," Doxite scowled. "Especially after what she did to my sister. And even worse, she may have joined the moon princess."

"Serenity? Here?" Kyanite nearly shouted in surprise, but quickly remembered to keep her voice down. Shouting generals were hardly stealthy, and with a senshi as dangerous as Saturnalius present, shouting was a very bad idea. "Does the master know?"

Doxite shook his head. "Not yet. Can you imagine what she'd be like?"

Kyanite pulled her ears back to mimic the queen's long pointed ears. "The princess is here? I want her dead! Blah blah blah!"

"That's exactly how it would go," Doxite frowned at the accuracy of her mockery. "She's touchy like that. That much I haven't forgotten." Unlike Crocoite and some of the other generals, Doxite had little memory of his previous life. Just bits and pieces. That was all he needed, truly. He was there to carry out orders and please the queen with success, not play memory games.

"There's someone else?" Kyanite's attention quickly shifted back to the group in the park.

.

Usagi ran up behind Sasami and Minako, very much out of breath. Running wasn't exactly her strong point, at least in civilian form. She wished she had the stamina of Sailor Moon all the time, but she hated exercising. "Geez, I was calling out to you two to slow down. Didn't you hear me?"

"Forgive me, Princess," Sasami frowned. "I could barely hear anything over the Venusian's pleading." She offered Minako a rather sharp, displeased look.

"Princess?" Usagi exclaimed. "Y-you don't need to be so formal, Sasami-chan. Just call me Usagi." True, she was the moon princess, and she knew now very well about Sasami's pure yakuza-like dedication and loyalty to her. But right now, they were just Usagi and Sasami. Friends. Or that was how Usagi wanted it to be.

"And my name is Minako, not Venusian," Minako frowned, chiming in. "And you still haven't introduced me to Katsuro-senpai! It's been nearly a week!"

"If that is what you wish," Sasami affirmed, ignoring Minako completely. Minako had been incessantly bothering Sasami for an entire week, and Sasami was only tolerant of it because Minako was a lunar senshi. If it had been anyone else, she would've told them off by now.

"Sasami-chan!~" Usagi whined. "You don't need to be formal like this. I want to be your friend, not your commander. I know we were forbidden to meet in the past, but there's nothing that says we can't be friends now."

She was certainly set on this. Sasami studied her for a moment. She had always wanted to meet and befriend the moon princess, but she had been expressly forbidden. Sasami spent far too much time living in the past. And without Akiko present to balance her out, Sasami felt unstable, relying on only duty and necessity when it came to sailor business, especially with Usagi.

"Perhaps." Sasami glanced at Usagi to see a shadowy form quickly approaching. Quick on her toes, Sasami leapt forward, hooking her arm around Usagi's shoulders and pushing the princess out of the way and into Minako. She took the full attack, black lightning surging through her body before her legs gave out and she collapsed to her knees, holding a hand to her chest as she attempted to breathe.

"Sasami-chan!" Usagi shrieked.

"Sasami, hm?" the shadowy form came into view. Short red hair with a snide look drawn across her face, Kyanite smirked as she gathered more black lightning in her hand, striking Sasami with it several more times. Crocoite may have failed, but the two shared a similar, incredibly strong power: deadly black lightning. Kyanite just believed she was better with it. "Now you can watch your friends all die, Saturnalius."


	29. Silver Moon Crescent Love & Beauty Shock

Why? Why was it that her friends had to suffer so much? True, the Eclipse had been created to serve the silver moon, but that didn't mean they needed to suffer, to turn their bodies into living shields. Why wasn't she able to fight beside them? Did more have to fall?

Usagi could clearly see the pain twisting across Sasami's face as she grabbed at her chest, her heart probably skipping a beat or two from the lightning. She grabbed Minako's hand. "I have a plan."

No, no one else had to die.

...

Sasami reached for her bracelet which held her galactic crystal she used to transform. She had to become Saturnalius. That form could take a greater hit from a magical attack. She couldn't let the silver moon fall.

"SAILOR MOON KICK!" The blond flew over Sasami's head, punting Kyanite in the face. The general stumbled backwards, grabbing at her face. "Pretty sailor soldier of justice! Sailor Moon is on the scene!"

Kyanite grimaced. Where did _she_ come from? Kyanite had gotten a briefing about Sailor Moon from Doxite. It seemed Moon's power had suddenly turned for the worse as she was unable to fight him not too long ago at the temple. And yet here she was, kicking her in the face. Was it all a bluff?

"In the name of the silver moon, I'll punish you!" she announced. It was a total bluff, of course, though not in the way Kyanite had imagined. Sailor Moon was a beacon of hope and light, but right now she couldn't fight. But she had a stand-in.

Sailor 'Moon' grabbed her crescent compact in her hand and brought her arm across her chest. She traced a full circle of a moon, shouting "Silver Moon Crescent Love and Beauty Shock!"

_She's making up names again._ Usagi cringed a bit as she sneakily crawled over to Sasami, who was extremely shocked to see her. She simply put a finger to her lips, hushing her injured friend. Sailor Venus aka Sailor "Moon" was buying her time so that Usagi could use her power to try to heal Sasami's wounds. Venus could only hold her off for so long, but with Sasami, or Saturnalius's, help, they would definitely win.

For a moment, through the power of the Silver Crystal Usagi was using, Sasami could see an image of the silver moon princess with beautiful long silver hair and decorated in pearls.

Not paying attention to Usagi or Sasami, Kyanite fired off several bolts of black lightning, which Venus Moon easily reflected with her attacks with her crescent compact. She glanced over her shoulder for a brief moment at the two behind her, then quickly turned back to deflect another bolt. "Uh oh."

Both Usagi and Sasami's attention shot up to Venus Moon. Her compact was running out of power. She forgot to charge it in the moonlight again. The disguise was quickly fading, revealing Venus underneath. "Uh oh."

"Oh well this is an interesting turn of events, now isn't it?" Kyanite smirked. "Quite a show you put on there, but now it's time to die."

"I think not~ "

Scowling sharply, Kyanite's attention quickly snapped to the bushes to their side. Venus even gaped. She had called the other senshi before taking the disguise, but she didn't recognize the voice. Besides, who spoke with hearts?

Blue hearts rushed from the bushes, smacking into Kyanite, knocking her backwards once again. "Sunnova-! Who's there?"

From the bushes leapt a new senshi with a soft blue collar and skirt with pink accents. Along her waist were angled cut-outs to show off her skin. She wore blue high-top sneakers and upper arm-length gloves. Her back bow was cut to look like rose petals.

Above her head she brandished a long pink spear with a blue spear head. As she moved, the spear broke into sections which wrapped around her body with a silent command. Hearts gathered along the edges of the segmented spear, and she lashed the spear out, throwing the hearts at Kyanite with a simple yet elegant command, "Blue Heart Rhapsody~ "

The attack threw Kyanite back further, over the bushes and into the duck pond. The new mysterious senshi landed gracefully next to Venus as her segmented spear returned to a solid one.

"A new senshi?" Venus exclaimed excitedly. "Are you my mirror? Do I get a mirror now?"

"Don't let her fool you," Sasami said sourly, pushing herself to her feet. She offered a hand to pull Usagi up, and after Usagi was firmly on the ground, Sasami stepped over and smacked the back of the senshi's head. "This is Sailor Merkkur, Mercury's mirror."

"Wait," Usagi blinked. "You know her? Or remember?"

"How could she not remember me?" Merkkur sang almost vainly. "I'm her most beautiful and amazing friend! And my debut was a thing of beauty!"

"No it wasn't," Sasami countered. "I saved you from Doxite the first time you 'debut'ed."

"So ha~~rsh, Sasa-chan~," Merkkur frowned, seemingly defeated. "But no matter! V-chan~! Combine your powers with me for the most beautiful attack these shadow people have ever seen~ !"

"Alright!" Venus exclaimed, fired up. She rose her hands above her head to summon her whip, but then something struck her suddenly. "I don't know how to combine anything. Nothing's coming."

Merkkur had paused as well. "Not beautiful at all."

Sasami facepalmed sharply. "I'm starting to think we can only combine our powers with our mirrors or each other." If that were the case, Merkkur would have to combine with Mercury, and chances of that actually happening were close to 0%. Merkkur was too wild for Sasami's own rival.

"No matter," Sasami twisted the bracelet with her crystal on it. "We'll combine our powers. It's time to take down another general. Purple Diamond Transform!" She took a step forward, purple diamonds surrounding her as she stepped beside Merkkur.

The two shifted back to back almost instinctively, crossing their arms across their bodies like mirrors of one another.

"Best Friends Atomic Heart Beam~ !" Merkkur commanded.

"God, Merkkur," Saturnalius frowned sharply at the name. She didn't have much of a choice anymore, did she? It was already named and done. "Fine fine, Atomic Heart Beam."

The two pointed in sync at Kyanite, who was currently attempting to recover from the previous attack. Doxite arrived in a last-ditch effort to rescue his accomplice. Enough generals had died at the hands of his plans. He wasn't about to let another die. He had his phasing power to help them out.

The attack combined Merkkur's speed with Saturnalius's strength, impacting the two generals with such ferocity it kicked up the water of the lake, briefly revealing the bottom of the pond before crashing down on itself. The two generals had been immediately vaporized from the attack, leaving nothing but the water behind. Doxite didn't have a moment's chance to summon a portal to escape. He had finally fallen to the senshi.

"That was an attack of beauty~ !" Merkkur exclaimed excitedly, clapping her hands together excitedly.

Saturnalius hung her head in shame. Since her friend had become Merkkur, she'd become even more wild and flamboyant than before. "Just stop talking, Merkkur."


	30. The great spring festival

A week had come and gone, and the battlefront had been quiet. School, however, had not, when Merkkur's civilian form, Hana Tsubaki, had joined the group of civilian senshi and had made a very loud and flamboyant scene. She fit in well and became immediately friendly with Minako. The two stalked the football team for cute guys, much to Sasami's annoyance.

While the threat of the Shadow Galaxy was hardly over, the senshi felt it wise to enjoy the festivities of the school's spring festival. Akiko had finally woken up despite all odds, though she was still rather weak from having her galactic crystal tainted by Crocoite. Perhaps in a bout of weakness, she requested Makoto take her position as featured dish at their club's booth, claiming she would be victorious over Makoto once again as soon as she felt better.

The sports teams were all preparing for a demonstration match against Roppongi High School from the neighboring district of Roppongi. Their teams were usually aggressive and underhanded, giving them a rather bad reputation. It was an unusual choice for demonstration matches, as the games were often competitive yet friendly, and Roppongi High wasn't entirely known for friendly matches. While the majority of the teams weren't happy with the match up, the football team was thoroughly excited.

"Ami-chaaaan," Usagi whined, prodding her friend in the arm. "This is a festival. It's time to have fun, not study. After everything, we need to have fun." It had been a hard month, with her loss of power and with the near death of an ally. Two, actually, as Sasami nearly lost her life as well. The three mysterious deaths that headlined the news every so often were probably related, but Usagi didn't want to think of that right now.

"When there is time to play, there is time to study!" Ami resisted her suggestion. Studying was everything.

"You need to take a break," Sasami frowned, hooking a finger into Ami's book and pushing it downward to stare at her rival. She hadn't quite geared up yet, but she wore her football jersey over her white football pants. Her hair was already tucked up and rolled up underneath, ready for play. Akiko stood beside her, still looking weary as she held on to Sasami's arm for balance.

"You don't study enough," Ami countered.

"You study too much," Sasami returned. "I do better when I do other things too. Keeps your mind from going in unnecessary circles."

"If you study too much, your eyes will melt and fall out!" warned a figure wrapped in a hooded dark blue cloak behind Ami. Her hood concealed her features as she leaned forward eerily.

"Death Phantom!" Ami exclaimed, smacking the figure on the side of the head with her book.

"Oooowwww," the figure groaned. "It was just a joke, I'd say," she added, pushing the hood back revealing Kasumi with a very sore face. She rubbed her cheek gingerly.

Startled, she quickly apologized. Kasumi waved it off, apologizing in return for creeping out Ami.

"You'll traumatize someone like that, Kasumi," Sasami frowned, folding her arms, Akiko lightly tittered beside her. "I can't have my rival shaken like that."

"Don't think such things will shake me so easily!" Ami declared. "I will beat you at the academic challenge this afternoon, Daimon Sasami!"

"Don't take me so lightly, Mizuno Ami," Sasami countered. "I'll be the one victorious." With Akiko back at her side, Sasami seemed much more stable and focused. She no longer had to worry about Akiko's health and could focus on what she enjoyed doing: rivalries, football, and living out her past self's desire to befriend the silver moon guardians.

There was much taking place before the academic match in the afternoon. Usagi's plan was to visit as many friends' matches as she could. She wasn't really into sports, she simply wanted to be there to cheer on her friends. She brought with her the people who hadn't been involved in a demonstration or a booth: Mamoru, Ami who was still engrossed in her reading, Rei whose spring festival was next weekend, and Akiko who had attached herself to Rei's arm for balance. Rei strangely hadn't objected.

Makoto was busy with her club's booth, making brownies and working on some ikebana decorations for the booth. She'd tucked a small flower arrangement in Usagi's buns before the two went their ways. Kasumi was busy reading people's fortunes and scaring children.

Usagi and company had found seats on the bleachers for the first match, the football game. Juri scrambled up the stairs suddenly, fully dressed in her decorative demonstration gear, careful not to trip on her hakama as she bounded up the stairs. "Oh good, I haven't missed it!"

Usagi shook her head. "You're just in time, Juri-chan! It hasn't started yet."

Juri happily nestled in with the rest of the group, making sure the seat was clean first so she didn't mess up her hakama. They were incredibly tedious to clean and she'd rather avoid having to need to clean in the first place.

"Surely there's room for two more beautiful people~ " Tsubaki flipped her bangs to the side in the most glorious manner possible, with Minako in tow as they climbed the stairs. The two nestled in at the end of the bench, pointing out who was cute on either team.

Rei wasn't entirely interested in the game as she was in the tight end from the Juuban Knights. There was something about him that was off. His aura was so dark and wispy like a shadow. It felt malicious, yet the tight end simply continued on with the game with no malicious actions. "That Hayashibara Naogawa. Just who is he?"

"He's the new tight end, whatever that is," Minako gushed. "He's so dreamy."

"What happened to your crush on Takahashi Katsuro-senpai?" Usagi asked coyly, smirking nearly ear to ear.

"He has a girlfriend," Minako waved it off as if it didn't bother her. Why wouldn't he have a girlfriend? He was strong and smart and athletic and a total dreamy hunk. "It's all about Naogawa-kun now~"

"Oho~ He's related to Hayashibara Hamahara-shi, the news anchor," Akiko chimed in. She hadn't gotten to know Naogawa very well, but she'd heard about him from Sasami. "Sami doesn't seem very fond of him. Shadows in his eyes, she said." Sasami had filled Akiko in on everyone's identities as allies and senshi, though which civilian was which senshi was hard to tell still.

Rei narrowed her eyes as she watched Naogawa play on the field. "I got the same feeling from him. Shadows."

…**.**

**Author's notes:**

Roppongi 六本木 [link] is a neighboring district to Azabu-Juuban where this story takes place. It has a reputation for having a high Yakuza population


	31. How could she have forgotten that too?

The football match between Azabu and Roppongi was a grueling one, involving a lot of going back and forth for touchdowns and field goals. Yet in the end, Azabu barely clawed its way to the top, bringing the home team another victory. Roppongi's team played an incredibly underhanded, aggressive game, yet Katsuro was ready for it. While he was incredibly pleasant outside the game, in it, Katsuro was a commander from hell, pulling fake-outs, trick moves, and other forms of deception, all for the sake of winning.

After the game, Naogawa stopped Sasami on the field. "I get the feeling you don't particularly like me, Daimon-kun."

Sasami paused, observing him for a second through her yellow-lensed glasses she wore when playing. Naogawa was more observant than she'd expected, able to pick up on her distancing herself from him. In his eyes, she could only see darkness and shadows. Perhaps in return, he could see the atomic power in her eyes.

"Don't be ridiculous, Naogawa-kun," Sasami replied. "I simply don't know you well enough yet." It wasn't a lie, just avoiding her true reason for being distant. She didn't know him, and that made her uncomfortable. She'd been with the Juuban Knights since the beginning of the year and the team had remained relatively consistent. This new addition felt off, not to mention everything about Naogawa felt as if he had an ulterior motive.

"Perhaps we could be friends one day," Naogawa offered.

"I'll consider it," Sasami responded coldly.

"Oh Naogawa-ku~~n" Minako sang as she nearly bounded out of the stadium seating and on to the field. She leaned into him, flirting as she kicked up a heel playfully behind her. "Do you have a girlfriend?"

Sasami facepalmed sharply as the rest of the girls and Mamoru made their way on the field using the stairs, not scaling the wall like a monkey. "What is she doing?" Sasami frowned sharply.

"Being herself," Rei frowned as well, "despite warnings."

Sasami glanced at Rei. Of course she saw the horrible shadows too. Sasami didn't have any supernatural powers to read auras or anything of that nature. She simply had the ability to communicate just by looking. Ami had it too and the two could communicate lengthy conversations in complete silence simply by staring one another down in the hallways.

"No, I'm not spoken for at all," Naogawa replied with a charming smile, brushing a hand through his long brown hair hair.

"Go out with me, right now," Minako demanded, charmingly of course. She was the goddess of love, after all. She oozed charm. "Let's get ice cream."

"Don't you have a volleyball game today?" Sasami scoffed.

Minako cringed at the realization. She was right, again. Dammit, she hated when Sasami was right. "Right... right. After that then."

"I have my archery demonstration," Juri chimed in.

Minako cringed again. How could she have forgotten that too? "Right... after that then."

"There's the academic competition," Ami suddenly chimed in, not even looking up from her book. "You might learn something there!"

Minako cringed yet again. While she did want to attend the other matches, she didn't particularly want to go to an academic match. They made her feel stupid. "That too..."

"It's not a problem," Naogawa smiled. "We can have ice cream tomorrow after school."

"You're so sweet, Naogawa-kun," Minako added, somewhat humiliated by her own friends. Traitors.

...

The volleyball game came and went, though unlike the football team, the volleyball team suffered a crushing defeat at the hands of the vicious Roppongi team, leaving Minako hanging her head in bitter defeat for the rest of the day.

The archery demonstration was soon after that, though as Roppongi High didn't have an archery team, Juuban's team simply competed with themselves. No one on the team wanted to compete with Juri and her skills, except for team captain Kuroda.

Juri's skills as an archer were known throughout the Kanto region. Even Rei had heard of her. She was last year's demonstration champion in the regional matches, losing by one point in the national tournament when a gust of wind caused her arrow to stray. It was an unfortunate mishap, but she accepted the defeat and vowed to win the next tournament despite all odds.

She stood side by side with Kuroda. Her outfit was colorful and decorated with flowers and flames; his was pretty standard, dark hakama with a beige top. The arm guard he wore, however, was decorated with cranes. The two put on quite a show for the audience, firing off arrows at odd angles, multiple at one time, even tossing them into the air and crossing targets.

The turnout at the demonstration wasn't entirely high, the civilian senshi taking up a good deal of the present population. Yet as word of the demonstrations spread, more and more people began to arrive, populating the bleachers. Archery was a traditional sport not everyone was interested in. It involved a lot of standing and precision. Yet Kuroda and Juri's demonstration had attracted a crowd with their skills the field began to run out of seats. When Naru and Umino had arrived, they squished in with Usagi and company.

The demonstration ended with Juri and Kuroda bowing at one another, then turning to see the mass of students who had silently gathered behind them. They both offered waves and smiles in response to the overwhelming cheers. Juri was truly in her element, thriving. She got to do wild demonstrations and people respected her skills.

...

The academic battle later that afternoon proved to be just as exciting. Takahashi Katsuro had joined Sasami and Ami in the battle, though he was knocked out of the tournament in the semi finals, leaving Sasami and Ami to continue their heated rivalry. The two were very evenly matched and thoroughly enjoying their academic battle. In the end, the battle was declared a tie, leaving the two to continue on with their rivalry.

For the first time in the past month, the civilian senshi truly felt like regular people.


	32. A light of hope in the darkness

Meanwhile, in the depths of Shinjuku MS Department store, the queen sat on her throne of miscellaneous bedding among the shadows of her kingdom. She tapped her finger on the arm of her chair. She was highly irritated and annoyed with her generals and minions right now. Her numbers were already down by half and all due to that Eclipse senshi. The past was happening all over again. Soon the silver moon would try to seal her away again, but this time, that wouldn't happen. This time, she'd be victorious.

Her lead general and strategist, Pifite, approached her cautiously, taking a respectful knee before her for reporting. She bowed her head, her green and blue-streaked hair falling into her face. "I believe I may have found the silver moon princess."

Surprise washed across the queen's face suddenly. This was not the news she had been expecting, hearing progress instead of absolute failure. "Are you absolutely certain?!"

Pifite nodded. "Without a doubt. I've reviewed all the data several times to make absolute certain. Sailor Moon is definitely the silver moon princess." Most of the data was a result of Doxite's extensive and thorough research and data mining. While he had perished, his efforts and data miners persisted, continually flowing information in.

The queen frowned sharply. How was she here? Was she reborn like the rest of the brats protecting this rock? Since their arrival, Sailor Moon had stayed relatively unnoticed. The Eclipse had stepped up along side the silver moon senshi to make a formidable and rather effective force.

"I recommend drastic measures," Pifite advised. "I recommend Project Shattered Eclipse."

The queen paused for a moment. The Project was certainly extreme, though not outside her overall plan. "Pifite, make it so."

...

Mamoru wrapped his arms around Usagi's shoulders. "We'll finish that repeating dream of yours tonight."

He had an innate ability to read people's dreams. For the past week, Usagi had been sleeping over at his place, wrapped in his arms as she dreamed, hoping that the love she shared with Mamoru would help her finally catch the person who continued to fall into the darkness.

"What if I don't have the dream again?" Usagi frowned as she pulled the tie out of her hair, letting it fall onto her shoulders. For the past week, their efforts were in vain as Usagi had continued to dream about everything except the reoccurring dream.

"Then we'll try again tomorrow night," Mamoru reassured her. While he did enjoy seeing her dreams and hopes for the future, that wasn't necessarily the dream they were looking for. As much as he wished it not to happen, she needed to have the nightmare. She needed to find out who this person calling for help truly was. "Come to bed. It's getting late."

The two climbed into his bed and snugged underneath the covers, then promptly fell asleep.

_"Sailor Moon!" she shouted, reaching forward. "The light in the darkness!"_

Mamoru had wrapped his arms around her once again, pulling her closely. He could feel her flinch slightly and grab his arm tightly. It had to be that dream. Finally, they could see a conclusion to the nightmare.

..

_It was dark. All Moon could see was the gloved hand reaching out towards her. She reached for her but once again, the hand slipped from her own, their fingertips barely touching. "No!"_

As the hand began to fade away, another came from behind Moon and grabbed the hand in the darkness.

"Tuxedo Kamen!" Moon exclaimed, turning to see he had suddenly appeared behind her. Her dream self was slightly surprised, though in her mind, she knew he would come. He always came.

He offered her a nod with a reassuring smile. "Together, we'll rescue her and bring her into the light." As promised, he was there. They had to bring this person into the light.

Sailor Moon reached up, grabbing the gloved hand with Kamen. The two pulled against whatever drew her into the darkness. A second gloved hand appeared, taking hold of Moon's hand to secure herself and not fade away again.

With much effort, Moon and Kamen pulled the figure gloved arms further into the light. Her gloves went all the way up mid-upper arm decorated with two golden poofs of fabric. Soon her red sailor collar came into view decorated with her long auburn hair.

"Sailor Sun!" Moon exclaimed, recognizing the gloved figure.

"Sailor Moon!" Sun smiled, relieved. "I'm so glad to finally not fall into the darkness again!"

Moon and Kamen pulled her down, and she finally stood on the ground. "You won't need to be in the darkness anymore," Sailor Moon reassured her. "We're here for you. But why are you here? Are you dreaming too?"

Sun nodded. "I've been having this dream for months, even before I moved to Juuban, calling out to someone standing in the silver moon light, but each time, I just slipped away. I'm not sure to where, but it was dark."

Moon drew her in a tight hug. "You're safe now." No longer would she have to stay in the darkness. She could come and stay in the light.

"While I was in the dark, I started having visions of a crystal city," Sun continued, though her voice was muffled as she buried her face in Moon's shoulder. "I knew I had to protect it. I know it's precious. That's why I think we should combine our powers."

Sun pulled away from Moon's embrace and took her hand in hers. While the other senshi had begun to combine their powers, Moon hadn't once tried. Her power was still there, it just had been silent until now. "I think it's time the sun and moon should fight side by side."

Kamen placed his hand on top of the girls'. "The sun, the moon, and the earth, all fight as one." Through the power of the three united as one, a bright light began to form where their hands all met. It was warm and inviting, a power that none of the three had ever felt before. It was strong and bright and filled with hope.

..

Usagi awoke to a start, as did Mamoru. That was the dream, the repeating nightmare, but this time, it ended happily. To think that Juri had been reaching out to her this entire time, stuck in the darkness, eternally floating away. Usagi touched a hand to her heart only to notice she held something in her hand. "Mamo-chan,..."

Flipping on the bedside lamp, Mamoru peered over to see something in her hand. It was only slightly larger than the size of her palm, the size of a transformation brooch. It was a large heart with a crown and three feathers on either side. The border of the heart was gold. Inside the heart was a golden sun eclipsed by a silver crescent moon. Behind that was blue, like the oceans of earth.

"I can finally fight with everyone again," Usagi smiled. "I-"

Her words were cut short by a beeping, the sound of her communicator watch yelling for her attention. Usagi fumbled with the sheets before untangling herself and dashing to her purse. She flipped the watch open.

"Usagi-san!" Juri shouted, her face stricken with panic as she appeared on the communicator's screen. "Look outside. Right now!"

A quick glance between the two, and Usagi and Mamoru dashed out onto the balcony of his apartment. A large silver paper moon hung low in the evening sky. The moon appeared to simply rip in two then fade away as it was quickly eclipsed by darkness.

**...**

**Author's note:**

Please forgive all the italics :


End file.
